Grassroots gig venue set to expand

The business would expand to occupy the entire Fylde Road building under the proposals

Plans have been unveiled to expand legendary grassroots music venue The Ferret.

New, larger performance spaces and a set of recording studios lie at the heart of the vision for the revamp of the building in Preston, which would see the business expand to occupy the entire Grade II-listed former mill building on Fylde Road.

It is currently located on the ground floor, while the first floor lies largely empty and two further levels are home to a martial arts gym.

The proposed overhaul comes just 18 months after the venue was saved from the threat of closure when its premises were bought by a charity set up to protect grassroots gigs with support from Preston City Council.

At the time, the operators of The Ferret – which opened in 2006 – said their long-term aim was to turn the site into a "cultural hub" for Preston.

The plans that have been submitted to the city authority for approval seek to realise that ambition.

The blueprint involves the creation of a 350-capacity performance area on the first floor, leaving the original Ferret – which can accommodate 200 people – largely unchanged in its current location.

Jeremy Rowlands, one of The Ferret's directors, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the new space would likely have a different name.

"The Ferret would become room two, if you will – a smaller room."

The said the venue will be preserved and "won't look and awful lot different" to how it does now, but there will be some remodelling of the ground floor.

He added that there will be a large area on the second floor that could be used for sit-down performances, conferences and educational activities.

"And then above that, there's a mezzanine floor, which will contain things like podcasting suites, recording studios and a couple of classrooms," he explained.

£2.5m raised

He stressed there was not yet any funding in place for the ambitious project, but said the hope was first to secure planning permission in order to set the scheme "into motion".

The Ferret building was purchased by the Music Venues Trust in May 2024 after £2.5m was raised via a community share offer to save several local gig sites across the country.

The acquisition of the site – which had been placed up for sale by its previous owners – was helped over the line with a £150,000 loan from Preston City Council.