What used to the printing works in Glovers Court Pic: Middle Miss Ford

A dilapidated former printworks in Glovers Court is to be repaired before being converted into offices.

Preston City Council has signed off spending £345,929 to refurbish what was the Lambert Brothers printing press.

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Plans had been lodged, and approved, in summer last year by Glovers Court Preston Limited, to renovate the building.

However a lot of the dirty work will now be done by the council, using money from the Heritage Lottery Fund which saw it grant £1 million to smarten up Winckley Square and the surrounding area.

Artist impression of how the office building would look

A report submitted by the city council’s director of development, Chris Hayward, states: “46 Glovers Court is a former Victorian printworks that has been vacant for a considerable number of years.

“It has planning approval for conversion to a series of small office units for which the owner has identified a particular need for in the city centre.

“The building was identified in the council’s THI scheme submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund as being a project where grant support would be required given the gap between the cost of conversion and the rental values achievable following conversion.”

Councillor Peter Rankin, leader of the council, has approved the spending but it could be ‘called-in’ by another councillor if they wish by Friday 4 March.

Further work on Winckley Square has begun with trees which are suffering from sickness and disease coming down.

Work on the trees in Winckley Square Pic: Paul Melling

What do you think of the heritage funding? Being spent in the right place? Let us know in the comments below