Former HSBC bank in Cornwall set to become cycling hub

The former HSBC bank in Redruth, Cornwall, is set to reopen its doors as a temporary home for local businesses, and then as a centre to promote cycling from grassroots to professional elite.

The building is set to become the headquarters of the newly established Saint Piran Cycling Community Interest Company.

The creation of a hub for the promotion of cycling at all levels, from grassroots to professional elite, has emerged as a result of consultation on developing Redruth as a destination for retail, events and activities. It aims to become a centre for accessing the network of on and off-road cycle routes and trails in this part of Cornwall, building on the success of the Tour of Britain in 2021.

Saint Piran Cycling social enterprise will transform the former bank into a hub for growing grassroots cycling, promoting participation, and showcasing both performance and elite cycling to inspire the next generation.

The hub will support behavioural change, keeping more people active and healthy into older age, whatever their ability, and it will encourage more people to reduce their carbon footprint.

The ambition is also to bring a programme of cycling events and international competitions, including the Tour Series, to Redruth and to attract associated manufacturers, creating employment, training, and volunteering opportunities.

Richard (Ricci) Pascoe, director of Saint Piran Cycling CIC, said: “This is an incredibly exciting moment for the newly established Saint Piran Cycling CIC and we are delighted to be working in partnership with Redruth HSHAZ and Redruth Revival to transform the former HSBC bank building in the town centre.

“Over the next few years, we will be establishing the building as the headquarters for Saint Piran Cycling, a hub for managing cycling events across Cornwall and beyond, for growing grassroots and community engagement with cycling. We want to promote fitness, good nutrition, health, and wellbeing through leading a more active life.

“The Saint Piran brand has an international reach that we will use to attract business interest in Redruth, creating jobs and providing apprenticeship and training opportunities.”

The building will be repurposed thanks to a grant from Historic England to Redruth High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) scheme, the efforts of Redruth Revival Community Interest Company and Cornwall Council as the lead organisation for delivering the Redruth HSHAZ scheme with the local community.

HSBC closed the Redruth branch on Fore Street in May 2017 as part of a wider closure of 62 branches across the UK. The building was put on the market this February, and the Redruth HSHAZ team identified this as a “fantastic opportunity to repurpose the building”, firstly to support Redruth Revival find temporary accommodation for tenants of the Buttermarket and then as a centre for the promotion of cycling.

Redruth Revival and the Redruth HSHAZ team have been working together over the last two years to raise the funding for the redevelopment of the Buttermarket complex of buildings, a £3 million scheme that will safeguard the use of these historic buildings by local businesses in Redruth town centre.

A number of tenants currently in the Buttermarket who will need to vacate the Buttermarket site when building works begin this autumn will be accommodated by Redruth Revival in the former bank building. On completion of the Buttermarket project in spring 2024, the building will become the Saint Piran Cycling Community Interest Company headquarters.

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Judy Davidson MBE, chair of Redruth Revival CIC said: “It’s fantastic to be working on another project with the Redruth HSHAZ team, building on our experience of bringing back into use historic buildings that have fallen into a poor state of repair over the years.

“Redruth has a remarkable collection of fine buildings that hark back to its previous mining wealth, but which now need to be repurposed to help revitalise the town centre. We can’t wait to reopen the doors to the public.”