One of the retail units at Mansfield's refurbished Old Town Hall has a new tenant.
R&R Permanent Make-up Studio and Beauty Training, owned and run by Jenna Simpson, moved into the building today (Wednesday 15 September) and is opening for business tomorrow (Thursday 16 September).
The salon is joining the council’s Town Centre Management team, which is now based within the the Old Town Hall, and Halo Recruitment which moved in last year. Victoria Hallam Hair Boutique and Henry George Menswear took exterior retail units at the premises last year.
A retail tenant is also lined up for another interior unit at the building. Details will be released shortly.
Work to refurbish and restore Mansfield's Old Town Hall cost £1.4m and saw the Grade II* listed building transformed into office and retail space.
Executive Mayor Andy Abrahams said: "It's great that the Old Town Hall, one of Mansfield's most significant buildings, is attracting new businesses to the town centre after laying unused and largely unusable for more than 30 years.
"The building has undergone an amazing interior transformation with an effective blend of the old with the new.
"I wish Jenna every success with relocating her blossoming business in the heart of the town centre."
For Jenna, moving into the town hall will allow her to follow in her father Glen Wilton's footstep as his business, G Wilton Ltd, was the main painting and decorating contractor during the refurbishment of the Old Town Hall.
Her business, which has been supported by a Mansfield District Council Business Growth Grant of £1,745, specialises in personal services including permanent make-up techniques for brows, eyeliner, lips and breast micro-pigmentation, and brow removal.
For years Jenna ran a large salon on Chesterfield Road South called Beauty Box which employed 10 people but she decided to downsize her business to a log cabin in the garden of her Mansfield Woodhouse home four years ago to accommodate family commitments. Now she wants to build up the business again.
She said: "I wanted to expand so the Town Hall unit was perfect. I am booked up until December.
"I have over 18 years of salon experience. I am also a beauty trainer in all aspects, including acrylic nails, derma-planing, pedicures, brows and permanent make-up, and my aim is to be the best trainer in Nottinghamshire."
The flagship Old Town Hall renovation is a major strand in the council regeneration strategy for the town centre. Work on the building included:
- Three retail units in a shared space on the ground floor.
- Two fully refurbished medium sized offices on the first and second floor.
- Redeveloping two existing retail units at the side of the hall.
- Renovating the old Council Chamber on the first floor to make it available to hire for functions, business use or weddings.
There were no significant changes to the exterior of the building to preserve the historic character of the property.
The council contributed £775,000 towards the scheme with £700,000 delivered by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership as part of its £7.63m N2 Town Centres Programme.
Oliver Marshall, of FHP, which is marketing the rental spaces at the Old Town Hall, said: "FHP are pleased to have secured tenants for two of the three internal retail units, with just the last unit remaining available.
"This is off the back of successful lettings of the external units of the Town Hall last year to Victoria Hallam Hair Boutique and Henry George Menswear.
"When complete, the Town Hall refurbishment by Mansfield District Council will be a vibrant and successful repurposing of a prestigious space in a prominent town centre position."
For enquiries about the remaining retail space available, contact Oliver on 0115 841 1142 or email him at oliver@fhp.co.uk
For details about Mansfield District Council business grants visit the council business support webpages (link opens in new window) or call 01623 463499.