Council to be 'more selective' with business grants

Middlesbrough mayor Chris Cooke said the council would question whether a business was sustainable

Businesses applying for grants will undergo more scrutiny, a local mayor has said.

Middlesbrough's Chris Cooke said the council needed "to be more selective” about how it spends public cash in the town centre.

The Labour mayor referenced the loss of esports gaming outlet Wired Lobby in Captain Cook Square, which received £500,000 in a loan and grant, and which he said “was not working”.

Mr Cooke said: "If a business comes to us and needs a certain level of investment, we need to question whether it is sustainable and any proposed ventures are properly thought out."

Wired Lobby opened in December, but was shuttered in April after bailiffs secured its unit following an alleged breach of the terms and conditions of the operator’s lease agreement, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Major retailer'

Residents at the community council meeting in Stainton criticised the town centre and the state of some shop frontages in Linthorpe Road.

Mr Cooke said the council was working to improve the town through its redevelopment of the Captain Cook Square shopping centre.

The council bought the shopping centre in 2020 and successfully bid for funds from the government’s Future High Streets Fund to transform it into a leisure hub.

"By the end of the year we will have filled the majority of Captain Cook Square – a major retailer I can’t name is coming back to the town centre and we are starting to get the interest back," Mr Cooke added.

Increasing footfall could make Middlesbrough town centre safer, Mr Cooke said

A number of residents also claimed they no longer felt safe in the town centre, with one saying they felt "threatened".

Mr Cooke said bringing people back would improve safety by creating "natural surveillance".

"We are exploring what we can do to make the town centre feel safer," he said.

"We can’t sit there with empty units waiting for people to feel safer because they also won’t come as there is nothing to do."

He added an indoor inflatable theme park called InflateSpace and fast food chain Wendy's were opening in the area, which would attract families and large groups of people.