A creative design agency based in Reddish has been nominated for a Big Chip award for its urban renewal website. Mickey & Mallory Ltd. developed a new interactive website for Houldsworth Village, a former purpose-built industrial village in Stockport now home to major public and private regeneration initiatives.
The site for Houldsworth Village was commissioned by the public-private partnership behind the area’s regeneration, Stockport Council, Broadstone House Ltd and the University of Manchester Incubator Company (UMIC). This partnership has created the 12000 ft² Stockport Business Incubator housed in Broadstone Mill, one of three former cotton mills in the village. Together with the Council’s other managed workspace facility at neighbouring Houldsworth Mill, Houldsworth Village is now home to over 80 new businesses and 450 jobs.
Many of the businesses are creative firms, specialising in website and graphic design, online video production, photography, and art and craft-based studio businesses. Mickey & Mallory chose to locate in the village two years ago, and won the website tender against stiff competition. Robert Pinfold, Mickey & Mallory Creative Director explains: “Our expertise in design and marketing for the public and private sectors combined with our methodology for working with multiple client stakeholders was a natural fit for the Houldsworth Village project. An integral part of the project was to include the client partners, including residents of the Houldsworth Village area, in the design of the brand and the website. As tenants at Broadstone Mill we’re immensely proud of the outcome of the project and hope that it continues to help attract new residents, businesses and investment into the area.”
Norman Hudson, Service Director for Regeneration and Leisure at Stockport Council, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Mickey & Mallory and also a great way of raising the awareness of the award-winning Houldsworth Village. The refurbishment of Houldsworth Mill into a modern space including housing, leisure, commercial, learning and public service facilities, together with the new business incubation facilities at Broadstone Mill, has led to the area becoming a key employment location for new and fast growing businesses in the knowledge based and creative sectors.”
Tony Walker high-tech incubation manager at UMIC adds: “Broadstone Mill’s incubator is already a seeding ground for Stockport entrepreneurs and businesses, creating a vibrant future for the Reddish area, with companies growing into larger workspace and other accommodation. We are actively planning to keep these firms in the borough to retain jobs, skills and value. We are committed to providing quality workspace, business management and links to the knowledge base to create the environment for innovation’.
The Big Chip Awards are supported by Manchester Digital, a not-for-profit independent association for IT and new media firms in the region. The 2009 awards ceremony takes place on 18 June, and Mickey & Mallory are one of four firms nominated for the ‘best public sector project’ category.
