Stack entertainment hub in Northampton could open next year

Stack has released an artist's impression of the finished development in Northampton town centre

The company behind plans for a new entertainment hub in an empty shopping centre is aiming for an opening date of March 2025.

The venue will be created in the old Peacock Place building in Northampton that overlooks the Market Square.

Newcastle-based Stack Leisure has submitted plans for a retail, food and performance centre on the site.

Its chief executive said the venue would have a central plaza surrounded by bars and street food stalls.

The Stack venue in Sunderland is made out of old shipping containers

Stack Leisure said it created "sustainable, safe, unique spaces for enhanced lifestyle experiences", either in recycled containers or disused buildings.

Its venue in Seaburn, Sunderland, was created from old shipping containers and is currently the only Stack site that is up and running.

The Stack in Newcastle, also made from shipping crates, attracted three million visitors in four years, but closed in 2022 to make way for an office building.

The Northampton project is one of several across the country that the firm plans to build over the next few years.

Stack's chief executive Neil Winch said Northampton was an ideal place for one of its hubs

Stack's chief executive, Neil Winch, said: "It's all focussed around a central plaza surrounded by bars and fantastic street food operators."

He said the plaza would have a stage on the ground floor for music and comedy events.

The building on Market Square, formerly known as Peacock Place, has been empty for years

Mr Winch added that the empty shopping centre was an ideal building for the project.

He said: "In the very centre, you have this glass ceiling which has an auditorium feel about it, which is where the plaza will be.

"My gut reaction was that this will really work."

Stack will invest £8m in the project, with the council putting in up to £4m.

Mr Winch said the company had done its homework.

"We've done a lot of research on what's happening in and around the centre of Northampton and we just feel it's the right time," he said.

He estimated that if the project got planning permission, it could be open by March next year.