Work is well underway on the new Women’s Centre on Preston Road in Hull. After a ground breaking ceremony on 28^th November, which attracted considerable local interest including BBC Look North, the site team from Hobson & Porter has completed piling for the new structure and have begun ground works.

The “Big Purple Build” received a Reaching Communities grant of £996,910 from the Big Lottery Fund which, added to funds already raised by the women’s charity, enabled the project to go ahead. Hull-headquartered construction company Hobson & Porter is on schedule to hand over the new Women’s Centre later this year. The fundraising campaign will continue in the meantime, raising money to furnish the centre.

Dave Blades, Business Development for Hobson & Porter, said: “We are proud to be involved in this fantastic project which will allow even more women from Hull to benefit from a range of vital services within a custom-built, state-of-the-art centre.

“At Hobson & Porter we strive to make a difference to the communities in which we work. This has seen us working for a number of local charities as well as fostering the skills of young people through our apprenticeship programme. It’s an approach which has resulted in some good scores as a Considerate Constructors Scheme Partner.”

Hobson & Porter is making rapid progress at North Point Shopping Centre, where the site team is transforming four empty retail outlets into six new opportunities for shops. The new shop fronts will be aligned to match the existing layout within the shopping centre, and the western entrance will be re-shaped. In addition to this, a new footpath is also being constructed for visitors to North Point from the western entrance.

Work began in October by stripping out redundant mechanical and electrical assets to make way for the installation of new assets, flooring, walls and fit-out of the new units. In the run up to Christmas and the start of the new year, a good portion of the blockwork and plastering has been completed and new M&E assets are being installed. By February, phase one of a five-phase development plan should be complete and ready to hand over.

North Point Shopping Centre was opened in the early 1970s, and already has more than 60 shops. This project will see even more retail opportunities offered to visitors and a noticeable improvement in their shopping experience.