York Guildhall: First businesses move in after restoration

The complex of buildings now includes a riverside restaurant

York's 15th Century Guildhall has reopened after a £21.7m restoration project.

The complex of buildings, formerly home to the city council, hopes to welcome dozens of new businesses to the city centre site.

York Science Park, a subsidiary of the university, has taken a 15-year lease on the buildings.

In addition to office space for businesses, the building also includes a cafe and restaurant.

Prof Charlie Jeffery, vice-chancellor and president, said the university wants to develop 100 businesses over the course of the lease.

"Here, we can engage more directly with businesses - which can benefit from our research of our students - and offer some of that engagement space which we know will generate new businesses around some of the technologies the university is developing."

The restoration work has included new buildings alongside the old

The city council met in the building until it moved to new offices in 2012

The restoration included the creation of some new buildings and office space for businesses to rent, all of which has been rented.

Prof Jeffery said the cafe, also run by the university, would open on 20 June and the riverside restaurant would be let separately to another tenant.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the Guildhall was now going to be "more appreciated than it has for a very long time."

"We're really going to bring people in - not just the businesses, but the general public and it's going to be an accessible space," he said.

The main building will be used for events, such as food festivals and weddings, as well as key civic ceremonies

The oldest buildings on the site date from the 15th century

Funding for the scheme came from the city council, the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The complex has only seen minor repairs and maintenance work since rebuilding work was carried out after bomb damage during World War II.

Work was due to end in 2021 but was held up by the pandemic, high river levels, and the discovery of human remains.