A new business centre in Lampeter has been officially opened for community and business use this week.

The Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters MS opened the Creuddyn centre on 4 November 2021 in a recorded speech due to not being able to attend in person.

Senedd Constituency Member for Ceredigion, Elin Jones MS was in attendance for the opening

Creuddyn is a state of the art building offering business units for local businesses, the social care sector and charitable organisations and will be perfect for start-up businesses looking for premises in the town. It will be an exciting new community facility that will bring people together, help tackle social isolation, support jobs, provide training opportunities, and accommodate social enterprises. 

Chair of Barcud, John Jenkins, said: “We are thrilled to see over three years work come to fruition with the opening of this key Lampeter site. Along with our funders, I would like to thank and pay tribute to the design team and local contractor that have helped to translate the vision we had into reality. Creuddyn will provide an enterprise development building that will support the regeneration of the town, create new training and employment opportunities, and contribute to the development of the local foundational economy. Creuddyn is at the centre of our plans to deliver training into work opportunities, and social enterprise development. It will also enhance our close partnership working with local schools, technical colleges, and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s.”   

Funding was provided for the £3.1M scheme by the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Programme (£1.53m) via Ceredigion County Council, the European Regional Development Fund through WEFO and Barcud.

GMW Partnership Support was received in prioritising the project to receive funding by both the ERDF Priority 4 and the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Programme.

Leader of Ceredigion County Council and Joint Chair of the Growing Mid Wales Partnership, Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn, said: “Supporting the development of Creuddyn is part of the Council’s key corporate priorities; helping to boost the economy. It’s our firm belief that investing in economic activity within our towns is essential to drive vitality and make them thriving places to live, work, and relax. It’s great to see that developments like this have benefitted from the funding regionally prioritised by the Growing Mid Wales (GMW) partnership since its formation in 2015. I wish luck and success to any start-up and growth businesses that are fortunate to be based at the Creuddyn centre.”

The core purpose of the development is to stimulate regeneration in Lampeter town by providing modern environmentally friendly business spaces to grow businesses in the area, particularly in the social care sector.

Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters added: “If we are to succeed in saving our town centres we need radical joined-up intervention.

“Creuddyn is an excellent example of how this intervention works – not only will the new business unit help to bring better jobs and services closer to home, but it will also help to boost the local economy and have a positive impact on climate change, offering people access to jobs and services without the need for a car.”