Tenants of Lancaster’s Storey Creative Industries Centre have just released this joint statement following the Council’s withdrawal of support for the company that runs the building (see news story), which we are more than happy to publish in full:
Dear all,
The Storey is at the 11th hour, and as meetings are taking place
largely without tenant involvement as they have done throughout this
sorry saga, we wanted the opportunity to give our view. Let’s explain
what’s at stake regarding tenants whose businesses and lives are being
considered.
Firstly, over 90 people’s jobs and their livelihoods are at stake.
This comes from 14 businesses, all successful and profitable, and
contributing collectively over £1 million in taxes personal and business
this year to the local and national pot.
And who are these businesses? There’s the Lancashire Creative
Business of the Year, serving 100 companies in the district and over 500
in the UK and overseas with 42 employees; a renowned training software
company serving the NHS, police forces and leading companies across the
UK; one of the UK’s top 10 design agencies in the RAR Awards; an
internationally renowned writer of comics and graphic novels, one of
which was turned into a major Hollywood movie; an incredibly innovative
company that’s attracting worldwide interest and investment from venture
capital firms; Lancaster’s second highest rated restaurant on
Tripadvisor; and two leading video production companies working with
clients across the UK.
They all employ local people from Morecambe, Heysham, Lancaster and
the rest of the district in highly skilled new industries that this area
desperately needs. (There are also weddings, conferences and events
booked and paid for in this building over the summer bringing people
from afar to our city).
Destroy this and you help destroy the reputation of the building, the
City Council and Lancaster as a place to do business. You can do
something to stop this.In our view, we all need the opportunity that we’ve not been given
before to plan the way ahead for our businesses, our employees and the
future of this great building.
Here are our five key points:
1. The Storey Creative Industries Centre Ltd knows the game is up, and needs to transfer the headlease to the City Council as agreed by councillor’s yesterday.
2. Once completed, SCIC Ltd should be wound up as a company.
3. The City Council should meet with tenants to plan a way forward. We’ve got loads of ideas to make the building break even, not in the future but right now. Talk to us!
4. We’ve only just received invoices for this month, and don’t know who to pay them to. Make these decisions, and we’ll immediately pay our rent and service charge to whoever, whenever and to a level agreed to help keep the building operational.
5. Then let’s plan a way forward for the building using the talent on offer here and across this city to build a self-sustainable future.
We’ve worked hard to create jobs and investment in the Lancaster
district. Don’t abandon us now. Let’s work together to create a vibrant
and viable future for all these businesses and the Storey.
For and on behalf of the tenants and their 90 plus staff
For more information check out our company websites to learn more about who we are and what we do:
• AccessPlanIT
Developing high-return software for the learning and development industry.
• Andy Diggle
New York Times bestselling comic-book writer.
• Azullo
Agile digital advertising software developer.
• Fat Media
Award-wining internet marketing, branding and e-commerce solutions.
• Hotfoot Design
Award-wining branding, design for print and web development.
• InTune
An international music production and education company.
• Morph Films
Video, web design, motion graphics and animation.
• Natural Ranks
Web development, marketing and project management.
• Workshop Media
Event video and video marketing.
Once again LCC fail to cover themselves in glory with their unique 'Hands off' approach to property management. The meeting last week was pure farce with half the elected members missing the point that it was not the tenants of the Storey who had failed to pay their bills but rather the board who had mismanaged the funds. The supposed checks and balances that LCC are duty bound to adhere to were as usual, absent.
That LCC's CE had authorised a cheque for £90k earlier this year without due checks on the financial health of the company was reprehensible enough without his request for further funds which members voted down.
Councillor Bryning's behaviour throughout was a disgrace and he really should seriously consider upping the dose of his medication or preferably standing down at our earliest convenience.
The furore over the Storey is nothing compared to the item on the agenda that was kicked into the summer grass, that of the figures being bandied about concerning what LCC will have to pay Allied for extracting themselves from the 250 year lease on the Market. Once again do the tax payers of Lancaster not deserve a better service than the one we currently receive/