The story around the fire at Manchester’s Hotspur Press

Here is all you need to know about the Hotspur Press building, which set on fire earlier his week, catastrophically damaging the building.

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World. My name's Theo Hewson-Betz and today I'm coming to you from outside the old Hotspur Press building,

00:06which yesterday became engulfed in flames, gutting the building and damaging nearby properties as well.

00:12Now let's talk a little bit about the history of the building.

00:14It was opened in the 1800s and was known as the Medlock Mill,

00:18with it serving as a cotton mill at a time when Manchester's economy was centred around the booming cotton trade.

00:24In 1902 though, the need for cotton mills was passed and the building was converted into a printing press,

00:28which remained right up until 1996.

00:32Over the preceding years, there have been some attempts to redevelop the building,

00:35with a developing company called Manor wanting to convert it into student flats by gutting the building and modernising it,

00:41before building a tower block rising out of the old structure.

00:45Delays were caused when an application was made for the building to be listed,

00:48after a survey of the mill found that it was likely the oldest surviving textile mill in Manchester,

00:53as well as being the only remaining example of a mill that used both steam and water power,

00:57which made it much more historically significant than was previously expected.

01:01Manor launched a campaign to keep plans on track and eventually,

01:04the application for the building to be listed was rejected,

01:07with Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State, telling the mill, a new site here in Manchester,

01:11that the building simply didn't meet the requirements.

01:14Still, delays came, with Manor altering their designs for the building multiple times,

01:18and each time being accused of looking after its profit margins,

01:21a claim that was denied by boss Richard James to the BBC earlier this month.

01:25It's not clear yet how the fire came about,

01:27nor is it obvious yet how it impacts the plans to build accommodation here,

01:31but the key thing to remember is that nobody was seriously hurt.

01:34Manchester has lost a part of its history, however, and that is always worth mourning.

01:38That's all for now. Follow Manchester World for more.