Regeneration of derelict Victorian mill in Manchester delayed again
The regeneration of a Victorian city centre mill has been delayed.Hotspur Press, also known as Medlock Mill, in Manchester has been derelict since shutting down as a printing press in 1996.Initial plans to convert it into a 171-home, 28-storey apartment block fell through in 2020, with a new developer, Manner, taking the historic structure on.The firm's plan to build a 36-storey student tower was given planning permission in May 2024, but it has changed the design twice since then and has had to resubmit its proposals to planners.
The new student tower was initially clad in redbrick panels, but this was changed earlier this year to be anodised metal, appearing to be grey-silver. Manner has now revised its plans for the building to include a bronze finish on the exterior. The firm has repeatedly denied the change was made to make more profit.The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the new metal finish will cost more than the brick cladding, but it is not known if this is due to inflation from last year to 2025.Manner boss Richard James said: "Through the consultation process we wanted to listen and take on board feedback to ensure we bring forward a proposal for The Hotspur Press that local people and the city can enjoy for years to come."The redesigned proposals will now be submitted to Manchester City Council.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
36 minutes ago
- The Sun
Chelsea have paid Brighton £257MILLION in three years with Joao Pedro becoming 14th player or staff member to be poached
CHELSEA have paid Brighton a whopping £257MILLION over the last few years - enough money to build THREE stadiums. The Blues have pinched 14 players and staff members - the latest being £55million striker Joao Pedro - from their Premier League rivals since Todd Boehly took over as co-owner and chairman in 2022. 5 5 Young stars Zak Sturge and Shumaira Mheuka became the first players to make the switch in the summer window, just over a month into the Boehly era. Full-back Marc Cucurella then followed in a £62m transfer. Then, Chelsea went for Brighton 's head coach, Graham Potter. Boehly had made the decision to sack Thomas Tuchel just a few weeks into the 2022-23 season, with Potter viewed as the perfect man to lead the club forward long-term. As part of a deal with Brighton, whereby the Blues paid in excess of £21m in compensation, Potter was joined by five staff members - Billy Reid, Bjorn Hamberg, Bruno Saltor, Ben Roberts and Kyle Macauley. However, the 50-year-old was dismissed after just seven months, with everyone bar Macauley and Roberts following him. In December 2022, Paul Winstanley became another person to swap the Amex Stadium for Stamford Bridge when he was appointed sporting director. Chelsea were forced to pay out another compensation package as a result. And in February 2024, Sam Jewell made the switch to lead the club's global scouting network and take charge of player negotiations. Jewell's arrival in west London saw him become the eighth staff member to complete the move from Sussex. What does Brighton player Joao Pedro's controversial 'throat-cutting' goal celebration mean? 5 5 One of Chelsea's most expensive signings also came from Brighton. The Blues forked out £115m to sign Moises Caicedo from the Seagulls in August 2023 after fighting off interest from Liverpool. That same month, they also sealed a £25m deal for goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. While Caicedo has impressed, Sanchez is now at risk of losing his No1 spot after struggling at Stamford Bridge. Now in line to join the five players who have taken the Brighton to Chelsea pathway is Joao Pedro. Enzo Maresca and Co beat Newcastle to a deal for the striker at the weekend. The 23-year-old is now expected to complete the £55m switch in the coming days. Once the deal is finalised, Chelsea would have spent roughly £257m on Brighton players and personnel over the last three years. That is almost enough money to fund the construction of THREE more Amex Stadiums. As well as Pedro, the UEFA Conference League winners are also closing in on a £55.5 deal for Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens. The 20-year-old has been pushing for a move to London since the start of the transfer window. 5
Telegraph
37 minutes ago
- Telegraph
MPs demand ban on fundraisers' ‘misleading' tips
MPs are calling for a fresh crackdown on 'concealed tips' on charity fundraising platforms. Fundraising websites have been accused of steering donors into giving 'voluntary tips' of as much as 19pc – fees which are not shared with charities. One of those fundraisers, JustGiving, made £24m profit in 2023, up from an approximately £3.8m-a-year profit before it introduced the tip model, according to its company accounts. The platform said it has raised more than £7bn for charities and good causes since it was founded in 2000. Labour MP Jo Platt, member of the culture, media and sport committee, said: 'Fundraising platforms play an important role in facilitating giving. But concealed tipping options and hidden charges are unnecessarily diverting money away from charities and misleading donors.' She joins several other MPs including Anneliese Dodds, Alex Sobel and Saqib Bhatti who have lodged Parliamentary Questions this year asking when the Government will address the issue. When donors use JustGiving, the online platform suggests a tip set to 19pc. The sliding scale, which allows the tip to be adjusted, cannot be set to zero. Instead, donors have to choose to input a custom amount, and set that to £0, to avoid making a 'voluntary tip'. It is possible to claim back the tip. The JustGiving website states that donors can contact its customer service team via email or an online form in order to ask for a refund. A survey of over 2,0000 people published this week by Strand Partners shows over three quarters of voters want the Government to address the issue. Two thirds said they wanted it to be easier to remove tip options when donating online. JustGiving deducts 1.9pc of donations, alongside a 30p payment processing fee. Charities using the platform can pay a monthly fee of either £15 or £39 plus VAT for an improved service, and the platform claims 5pc of Gift Aid refunds. After an automatic 5 per cent platform fee taken from donations was scrapped in 2019, the company's profits increased from around £3.8m a year to £19m. The company behind the platform, posted profits of £24m in 2022 and 2023. Other fundraising platforms make it easier not to add a tip to a donation. GoFundMe lets donors slide the scale to £0, rather than requiring a custom amount to be entered. A GoFundMe spokesman said: 'GoFundMe is the only major platform which processes Gift Aid for free and allows donors to move the voluntary contribution slider to zero per cent with one click. 'We encourage all other platforms to follow our lead and ensure donors can give safely without any nasty surprises.' A fundraising code of practice will be introduced from November 1 this year, overseen by the Fundraising Regulator, and will require platforms to be transparent about fees and 'tips', and to offer straightforward ways to remove the extra payments. A spokesman for JustGiving said: 'Following consultation with some of the UK's leading charities, in 2019 we moved to a voluntary contribution model, so that as much money as possible could go directly to charities and good causes. This is now standard practice across the industry. 'Today, anyone using our platform has the option to leave a tip on top of their donation to support the running of JustGiving, and this is not compulsory. 'When people do choose to add a tip, this goes towards investing in and maintaining the technology that helps our site continue to securely raise funds on a global scale 24/7.'
Telegraph
37 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Aston Villa close in on £55m women's team deal to help avoid PSR breach
Aston Villa's bid to avoid breaching Premier League financial controls has seen the club hold talks over a selling a stake in their women's team to investors that could put a value in the region of £55 million on it. Telegraph Sport understands that Villa have been working on a deal that would involve selling as much as 10 per cent of the women's team to investors with a view to selling the rest of it to the club's holding company to help them comply with profit and sustainability rules (PSR). It can also be revealed that Villa have committed to bringing down their player costs by almost 20 per cent over this summer and next, as they wait to find out whether or not they will be punished by Uefa. Although the June 30 accounting deadline expires on Monday, it is possible for the sale of an asset, such as the women's team, to be included in the 2024/25 accounts if the sale has been agreed in principle but the price has not been finalised. Villa's pricing of the women's team could effectively be sealed by selling a stake to investors who are thought to have held talks about buying as much as 10 per cent for around £5.5 million. That would allow Villa to sell the remaining 90 per cent to the club's own parent company, controlled by billionaire Nassef Sawiris, potentially generating around £55 million in total as PSR compliant funds. It is understood that a similar process has been considered for 'The Warehouse', the club's new music and events space in the North Stand car park with a potential value of around £50 million. The Warehouse, when completed, will be opened to fans on matchdays. It was also established as a live venue, which the club says will be run by the specialist company Oak View Group, and used on non-matchdays. Last year, Villa rushed through the pre-June 30 sale of midfielder Douglas Luiz to Juventus to generate the PSR funds that would avoid a points deduction and this time around have looked at different methods to raise the necessary income. Villa, who reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, reported a loss of £85.4 million for the 2023-24 campaign following a loss of £119.6 million for 2022-23. The club turned a profit of £300,000 in 2021-22, but a combined loss of more than £105 million over three seasons would constitute a PSR breach. Spending on infrastructure, youth and women's football is exempt. The Premier League's PSR rules are not the only issue for Villa, who qualified for next season's Europa League and must comply with Uefa's own financial controls – squad cost ratio rules (SCR). These put a limit on spending relative to revenue. Uefa does not permit clubs to register income from assets, such as the sale of the women's team to related parties and sister companies. Under Uefa regulations, clubs are permitted £170 million losses over a three-year period and those in European competition were required to keep spending on player wages and fees at a maximum of 80 per cent of revenue in the 2023-24 season, when Villa reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. That dropped to 70 per cent for the most recent season and Villa have been holding talks with Uefa about committing to a spending plan that will see their squad cost ratio decrease this summer and the next. It is understood that Villa have committed to bringing down their squad cost ratio by a percentage under 10 per cent this summer and a further percentage under 10 per cent next summer in the hope of avoiding heavy sanctions. That is likely to involve the sale of at least one first-team player. Top earner Emi Martinez, Lucas Digne, Ollie Watkins and academy graduate Jacob Ramsey have all been linked with moves away from Villa Park, while Morgan Rogers has attracted the interest of a host of clubs. Villa and Chelsea are expected to find out imminently their punishments for breaching Uefa's SCR rules, with fines thought to be the most likely outcomes for both clubs. Chelsea sold their women's team to the club's holding company for £198.7 million, with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian purchasing a stake of between eight and 10 per cent for £20 million.
