Stockport Council says work is underway to create a creative and cultural hub at 18 and 19 Market Place, with completion targeted for mid-2027. The plans combine workspace, events and exhibitions within the wider Creative Campus programme.
A new creative hub in the Old Town
Stockport Creative Campus is expanding into 18 and 19 Market Place, where the council says redevelopment is underway. Its announcement on 1 October 2026 set out plans for creative workspace, networking, events and exhibitions, with completion targeted for mid-2027.
The project will bring a historic town-centre building back into active use for creative and cultural organisations. It is the next phase of a wider programme linking premises, skills and public arts. This report covers developments announced by 23 October 2026, with source information checked on 24 October.
What is changing at 18 and 19 Market Place
The planned hub combines places to work with space for organisations to meet, present exhibitions and hold events. The council describes these uses as a way to encourage collaboration and showcase work created in Stockport.
That combination gives the project both a workplace role and a public-facing cultural purpose. The proposal is not simply to provide offices: networking, exhibitions and events are explicit parts of the council’s description. Those activities remain intended uses, rather than evidence of an operating programme.
The council’s October announcement places the redevelopment within the continuing transformation of Stockport town centre. Its emphasis is on returning another historic building to use, rather than creating a separate campus away from the existing town.
The announcement establishes that work was underway by 1 October. It does not establish the precise date construction started. Similarly, mid-2027 is a completion target, not a confirmed date when organisations or visitors will be able to enter.
For potential occupiers, the next information concerns access to space. The announcement said opportunities for creative and cultural organisations would be publicised in the coming months. The information checked on 24 October did not establish rents, tenancy conditions, an application timetable or named occupiers.
How the Market Place funding fits the original award
The council identifies a £2.2 million UK Government capital grant for the Market Place redevelopment. It was awarded through the second round of the Cultural Development Fund, delivered by Arts Council England.
This needs to be read alongside the earlier funding announcement for Stockport Creative Campus. On 12 March 2022, the council reported a £2.63 million award for the wider programme. That announcement was updated on 14 March.
The 2022 funding announcement concerned a broader cultural programme, not only the refurbishment now underway. It described ambitions for creative premises, training and public-facing arts activity across the historic town centre.
A later council document provides another record of the award. The 2025/26 capital strategy records an April 2022 award of £2.634 million through Arts Council England for a Cultural Development Fund round-two scheme. It identifies 18–19 Market Place as the campus’s central building.
The March announcement and April award entry are different dated records of the programme. The £2.63 million and £2.634 million figures also use different levels of precision. They should not be presented as separate grants.
Nor should the £2.2 million capital figure be added to the wider award to produce a new funding total. The documents do not support a detailed allocation of the difference between those figures.
The strategy lists Stockport Council, MadLab, Manchester Metropolitan University, FutureEverything and IN4 as partners, showing that the programme extends beyond a property refurbishment.
The campus plan combines buildings, skills and public arts
The original programme was led by Stockport Council, Manchester Metropolitan University and MadLab. Its 2022 announcement described an intended three-year effort to reinvigorate the town centre through a digital arts neighbourhood in its historic centre.
That was the programme’s original timeframe, not a fresh three-year commitment beginning with the October 2026 construction announcement. Its three strands help explain why a campus can involve several buildings and activities rather than one enclosed site.
Connected creative spaces
The Creative Campus strand proposed a closely connected Old Town cluster of production, community-engagement and public-facing spaces. Physical infrastructure and specialist resources were intended to support creative and digital businesses.
Within that approach, premises have complementary purposes: some support making and production, while others bring creative activity into contact with residents and audiences. Market Place’s proposed mix of workspace and exhibitions follows that broader pattern.
Skills and leadership
Campus Talent was conceived as place-based, hands-on training with an industry focus. Its stated objectives included leadership development and strengthening workforce digital skills, confidence and aspirations.
Those were programme aims. The funding announcement does not, by itself, measure subsequent improvements or establish which courses will operate from the Market Place building.
Public-facing arts
The Creative Placemaking strand proposed site-specific digital arts commissions, family-friendly workshops and larger events. Creative placemaking here means using arts and design activity to engage with a place and the people who use it.
The original award also supported ambitions to reuse empty properties and widen access to digital art. These ideas were aligned with the emerging cultural strategy, The Place That Makes Itself. They provide context for the current building project without establishing that every proposed activity has been delivered.
How the new hub relates to existing Stockport workspaces
The October 2026 announcement identifies Stockroom and Merseyway Innovation Centre as the first two elements of Stockport Creative Campus. Market Place is therefore presented as an addition to an existing network, not the programme’s first physical presence.
The council also reported more than one million Stockroom visits during its first year. That is an attributed visits figure, not a count of unique visitors. It does not establish future occupancy or commercial demand for the Market Place workspace.
For background on other premises, the council’s business-workspace information describes Merseyway Innovation Centre, Stockport Business & Innovation Centre and Merchants House. The page was last updated on 18 October 2023, so its descriptions are not confirmation of October 2026 vacancies or prices.
It identifies those council workspaces as managed by Oxford Innovation Ltd under the Innovate Stockport brand. Merseyway’s described offer serves small and micro businesses through co-working, shared offices and individual offices ranging from 100 to 570 square feet.
The listed facilities include a business lounge and meeting rooms. Support described on the page includes networking events and strategic coaching from an Innovation Director. These are descriptions of Merseyway’s provision, not a confirmed package for the new hub.
Merseyway opened in 2023 with support from the European Regional Development Fund through Northern Powerhouse, Stockport Council and the Cultural Development Fund managed by Arts Council England. That history connects it to the wider investment in town-centre workspace.
The other premises illustrate different types of provision. Stockport Business & Innovation Centre occupies Broadstone Mill’s third floor and was described as hosting more than 50 small businesses, with shared facilities and business support.
Merchants House, in the historic market square, was described as a red-brick building containing ten small managed offices on flexible terms.
These examples show the local workspace context, but they do not establish who will operate Market Place. Nor do they confirm its room sizes, support arrangements or contracts. Those details need to come from information specifically about the new building.
The university's role in creative placemaking
Manchester Metropolitan University’s contribution includes research and student work focused on Stockport. Design Factory Manchester describes itself as an innovation hub at Manchester School of Art, bringing together practitioners, researchers and students.
Its campus research theme applies design methods to community and place-based regeneration, working with creative businesses and social enterprises. This gives the university’s involvement a wider scope than simply occupying or advising on a building.
In Reframing Stockport, second-year bachelor’s students from different design disciplines investigated the town using an existing design-research toolbox. They developed placemaking proposals concerned with cultural activity, community engagement and the creative economy. These were proposals, rather than proof of completed improvements.
A separate walking-tour account published on 10 July 2024 explains how student projects and academic research were being focused on Stockport. The tour introduced staff, students and collaborators to relevant places and the people working there.
That account described Merseyway Innovation Centre as former retail space partly funded through the Cultural Development Fund. It also described a half-timbered Market Place building intended as programme headquarters, with community workshops, business training and graduate-business space.
Those are useful records of the thinking in 2024, but they do not replace the council’s October 2026 description or confirm the final building specification.
The tour also connected different forms of creative activity. Its examples included Hatworks and a university archive partnership; Yellowhammer’s bakery and ceramics workshop; Profolk’s flexible workspace in a former bank; and Grit Studios’ accommodation for artists and makers.
Together, these examples illustrate the range of practice informing the university’s work, from archives and design research to ceramics and shared studios. They are historical tour descriptions, not confirmation of current availability, addresses or future campus tenancies.
Stockport Creative Campus: the next phase
The immediate development is the refurbishment of 18 and 19 Market Place, announced as underway on 1 October 2026. Completion remains targeted for mid-2027, while occupier information is expected later.
The next useful step for interested organisations is to follow the council’s published updates for building-specific opportunities. Those details will distinguish the space actually offered from the wider programme’s earlier ambitions and from services available at other Stockport workspaces.
Frequently asked questions
What is happening at 18 and 19 Market Place?
Stockport Council announced on 1 October 2026 that work was underway to create a hub combining creative workspace with networking, events and exhibition space.
When is the Market Place redevelopment due to be completed?
The council’s 1 October 2026 announcement gives a mid-2027 completion target. This is not a confirmed opening date.
Can organisations apply for space yet?
The council’s October announcement said occupier information would follow in the coming months. Information checked on 24 October 2026 did not establish an application timetable, rents or tenancy conditions.
How is the Market Place project funded?
The council identifies a £2.2 million capital grant through Cultural Development Fund round two. It belongs to the programme associated with the wider £2.63 million campus award announced in 2022; the figures should not be added together.
Is Stockport Creative Campus just one building?
No. The original programme proposed a connected cluster of creative spaces alongside skills development and public-facing arts activity. The council’s capital strategy identifies 18–19 Market Place as its central building.
How does the new hub relate to Stockroom and Merseyway Innovation Centre?
The council’s October 2026 announcement identifies Stockroom and Merseyway Innovation Centre as the campus’s first two elements, with Market Place representing its next phase.
Will Market Place offer Merseyway’s services and tenancy terms?
That was not established by information checked on 24 October 2026. The council’s existing workspace descriptions concern other premises and do not confirm the new hub’s services or contractual terms.
What is Manchester Metropolitan University’s role in the campus?
Its documented contribution includes design-led research, student projects and creative placemaking focused on Stockport, including Reframing Stockport and a campus walking tour described in July 2024.