• Newham Council to transform council building as incubator hub to facilitate local black and ethnic-owned businesses as part of Community Wealth Building agenda
- Appointment of Create London to refurbish and manage local heritage listed building in Stock Street, Plaistow
To mark the end of the Council’s celebration of Black History Month 2023, now in its sixth year, Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE has announced a key milestone in her administration’s agenda to tackle inequality and racism in Newham with plans to refurbish and transform a Council-owned listed building into the its first innovation hub and workspace for black and ethnic-owned businesses and creatives in Newham.
Following a procurement process, the Council will be appointing Create London as its delivery partner to refurbish and manage the locally-listed building and former furniture store at Stock Street in Plaistow. The building will be refurbished and transformed to offer workspace and studio space for emerging artists and micro-businesses from Newham’s black and ethnic communities, with a youth-focused outreach programme specifically.
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE said: “Elevating black and ethnic talent and ensuring they are provided with more opportunities to add their important voices to our vibrant cultural and inclusive growth agenda is a significant part of our ongoing efforts to reverse systemic racism and inequality we have faced for far too long in Newham.
“As we mark the end of the Black History Month 2023 celebration of our black sisters, I am really pleased that we have appointed Create London to help black and ethnic owned creatives and innovators become part of our ambitious cultural agenda at our building in Stock Street in Plaistow.”
Create London’s vision for Stock Street is to revitalise this important neighbourhood asset and architectural marker for Plaistow. They will do this by delivering affordable workspaces, a café and versatile maker spaces dedicated to community-focused design learning, skills development and vocational training. These programmes will cater to children and young people and offer lifelong learning opportunities for adults. Create London will be working with the council and local organisations to support a targeted approach to facilitate space for diverse-led businesses
Create London will be undertaking refurbishment work to open the Stock Street building by March 2025 to bring back into use an important Council-owned heritage asset for the Plaistow neighbourhood as part of the Council’s inclusive growth agenda and ‘Building Newham’s Creative Future’ cultural strategy as well as the Council’s London Borough of Culture 2025 bid.