Hanley's Opportunity

Staffordshire, Neighbouring counties, Universities, Employers, Residents of S-O-T and Students all want a thriving City Centre. There's a land grab and first mover opportunity for businesses.

By James Routledge

It’s hard to write about Hanley, without getting sentimental. That, is part of the problem. The past looms heavily over this region like the thick black clouds that the bottle kilns used to create. 

My Dad said he was able to see above those clouds of smoke when he was on higher ground. That’s the kind of perspective we need now. 

Stoke and its City Centre can’t continue to live in the past. The residents of this region must take agency in engaging with our City Centre and business owners must see beyond the smearing of Hanley and Stoke’s reputation to see the obvious commercial opportunities. 

A thriving Hanley, means a thriving Stoke-on-Trent and a thriving Stoke-on-Trent means a City that serves Staffordshire and neighbouring counties. 

To see the opportunity for Hanley you simply need to look on a map. South from Birmingham towards Manchester in the North and East from Nottingham into the borders of Wales and Shropshire in the West, Stoke-on-Trent is the City in the middle. 

A thriving City Centre is where people come together to connect, celebrate, socialise, collaborate and consume. There is a gaping hole in the lives of all residents without it and a huge opportunity to fill it. 

The opportunity that is staring us in the face with our City Centre is that it’s already there. It’s already built. It actually already works and despite the negative attention and feedback it often receives, it’s not dead, Hanley endures. We need to engage with what we have. When we engage with what is already there, more will follow. 

There are two theatres, Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall. There are two independent live music venues, Sugarmill and Underground. There are two cinemas, in Festival Park and Hanley. There are two coworking spaces, Smithfield Works and The Wheelhouse. There are a strip of independent restaurants and bars on Piccadilly. There’s a Shopping Centre. There’s Nando’s. There’s Wagamamas. There are games venues, Geek Retreat, Escape Stoke and Long Rest. There’s the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. There are two brand new independent bookshops, Drop City Books and Vellichor Books.

There’s more. Like many, I’m re-discovering my City Centre and I’ve likely missed many great places here. 

“Hanley isn’t the problem, we are.”

We have a City Centre that is ready for us to engage with. Hanley isn’t the problem, we are. We have given up on Hanley. Residents have let the place down, they’ve turned to moaning about it, rather than supporting it. Hanley is ready for us, we just have to get there and engage with it. 

Hanley’s opportunity, is our opportunity. When we all decide to renew our relationship with our City Centre we will be rewarded. Just go to Hanley. Keep going and be curious about what’s there. Rediscover the City Centre and when thousands of us do that, we’ll get more independent coffee shops, retail, entertainment and who knows, maybe you’ll start one of them. What Hanley was, has died, we now have a blank canvas and it’s up to all of us to create the brushstrokes. 

“We now have a blank canvas and it’s up to all of us to create the brushstrokes.” 

Hanley’s opportunity for business owners is developing. Where there are gaps in the market, there are opportunities and the success of current independents in Hanley will only boost confidence for other budding startups too. 

Little Dumpling King, Slamwich Club, Hideaway, Bloom, Slice, Bottlecraft and Desire are all independent venues on Piccadilly that have sustained and prove there’s business to be had. Another independent coffeeshop, Coffeehouse recently opened in the Potteries Centre. Two new independent bookshops already mentioned have opened in the last few months. The momentum is there for others independent retailers to join in. 

There are further opportunities that remain untapped within the business community in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire too. Down the road from Hanley in Festival Park sits one of the most profitable businesses in the entire country. Bet365 with ~3,000 staff in its Stoke office is a giant and sits alongside other businesses such as DPD, DJH Mitten Clarke and Vodafone spread out along Media Way. Add to this the recent opening of the Etruria Valley Link Road and a further range of businesses located there such as Olympus Engineering and Overclockers who’s vast locations can be seen from the A500.

With the right positioning, partnerships with local employers could drive Stoke based workers into the City Centre for work meetings, conferences, after work drinks and socials. This case is further strengthened by the Smithfield site which already has one full office block and has plans for further development.

If successful, the Fifty500 Midland Growth Corridor initiative will further position the A500 and A50 routes as an important gateway for businesses in the Midlands. With a vision to “to transform the Midlands Growth Corridor into one of the primary locations for sustainable growth and investment in the UK”. This could create even further demand for Stoke-on-Trent which finds itself in the centre of this important route.

Finally, the regions two Universities, their staff and students remain largely unserved by the City Centre. For Keele with 12,500 students, Hanley’s nightlife, entertainment and food options need to do better at engaging their student audience based at a campus University that is only a 16 minute drive away.

For Staffordshire University the opportunity is even greater due to proximity. With the ease of Uber around Stoke, Shelton and Hanley public transport is not too great an issue and the University has a staggering 18,000 students. Staffordshire University has ~4,000 associated members according to LinkedIn, another big employer who’s people are already on the ground nearby. 

Keele and Staffordshire University have huge potential for our City Centre and the onus is on venue owners and entrepreneurs to engage student audiences and entice them to Hanley with products, spaces and events the students of today want.

For residents, Hanley is there and it’s ready for us to engage with it. Our power is to do that, vote with our feet and our wallets and make the best investment we can in our City Centre. 

For business owners, Hanley is a land grab and first mover opportunity. Four neighbouring counties, surrounded by big employers and two Universities. It’s there for the taking. In a world with more hybrid working, an area with a lot of green space and good quality of life, the future could be very bright and very profitable up Hanley. Build it and we will come.

What’s for certain is that Stoke’s renaissance requires a City Centre that’s dynamic and full of life. If more people choose to see the positives in Hanley and put their feet on the ground there, then Stoke’s resurgence gains more momentum with every step of footfall. That’s great for Stoke, very good for Staffordshire and I’ll finally get that City Centre oat milk flat white I’m desperate for.