£350m Talbot Gateway to reach new milestones in 2025

Blackpool’s £350m Talbot Gateway will see a number of key milestones reached in 2025 as the next phases of development make progress.

A new home for thousands of workers will be completed as the £100m Civil Service hub is due to open in the spring.

Work began in February 2023 by main contractor VINCI Building to construct the seven-storey, 215,000 sq ft offices which will accommodate 3,000 members of staff from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Handover of the site between King Street and Cookson Street to the DWP is expected in the new year with staff moving in in phases, starting in March.

The offices have been designed to be as energy efficient as possible, while the building also features a large reception lobby, open plan working areas, meeting rooms, quiet zones and other flexible workplace settings.

It is part of the wider £350m development of the Talbot Gateway, with the next phase due to begin in 2025 which will see a further office block built on the site of the former Apollo electrical store which was demolished in 2014.

The £45m six storey building, which is also expected to house civil servants, was granted planning permission in September 2024 and will also be built by VINCI. It is expected to bring a further 1,000 jobs to the town centre.

Regeneration chiefs also hope to see work start on the £65m multiversity campus on land between Cookson Street, Milbourne Street, George Street and Grosvenor Street.

But first they must await the outcome of a public inquiry into the council’s bid for a compulsory purchase order (CPO).

Independent planning inspector Phillip Ware is due to give his decision in January following the inquiry which took place in November and December at the Imperial Hotel.

The council has already assembled around 80 per cent of the site needed, and has appointed Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure Limited to carry out site preparation work.

This includes diverting utility services and disconnecting them from properties the council already owns, plus carrying out asbestos surveys and demolition surveys.

If the inspector approves the CPO, construction is expected to begin immediately and be completed in time to welcome the first students in September 2027.

The multiversity campus would provide a new home for Blackpool and The Fylde College, bringing up to 3,000 students and staff into Blackpool town centre.

A proposed 115,000 sq ft building includes five floors of space to deliver more than 70 individual courses and enhance the college’s existing higher education provision which is directly linked to local employment needs.