Mich Stevenson
The Lace Market today is the architectural gem of the Creative Quarter, with its tall redbrick factories of yore lovingly restored to house offices, restaurants, bars, and residential spaces. But back in the 80s, it was derelict and on the verge of demolition.
Mich Stevenson has been called Mr Nottingham, and his work ethic changed the face of the city forever. As a young man he started off working as a designer for AV Roe and then Raleigh, and since then he’s been instrumental in developing some of Nottingham’s most notable organisations, including the National Justice Museum, Nottingham Arena, Nottingham Regeneration Ltd and the Creative Quarter Company. For those who don’t remember the 80s and 90s in Nottingham (or perhaps weren’t even born), it’s hard to picture the east side of the city devoid of life. Now, Hockley and The Lace Market are thriving, and only last week, the Sunday Times pinpointed NG1 as one of the coolest postcodes to live in the country.
So how did Mich manage to make such monumental change in the area? He says it was about passion, and perseverance. “I was determined. Since I started it, it's been a labour of love all the way through. I just love the buildings. What a tragedy if they'd have pulled them down. They were proposing to put part of the inner-city ring road through here.”
Broadway in The Lace Market
He initially set up property development company Spenbeck with his brother Don in 1981, but after Don died in 1992, Mich decided he wanted to shift his focus. He already owned some properties in The Lace Market, and it seemed like place that needed his attention most. “We were doing these up, just getting started. At night it was a place where all the windows were getting kicked in. So, what we tried to do was stimulate growth, and we let some nice nightclubs in which brought people into The Lace Market.
Seeing the potential in the area, and determined that the old buildings would not be torn down, Mich set up the Lace Market Heritage Trust a not-for-profit organisation, working with other committed and passionate Nottinghamians as Alan Swales and Rev Eddie Neale. One of Mich’s first big projects in the area was The Shire Hall, where the National Justice Museum is now housed. “It had been empty since 1987, when during the Miners’ Strike, they actually lodged miners in there, in the prison. So I went to the leader of the council, John Taylor at the time and said, ‘Can you give me a quarter of a million pounds?’” With council support, he bought the property, which was owned by a local well-known bookmaker at the time, and set in motion the ideas for the country’s first museum of law.
The National Justice Museum, previously Shire Hall
Alongside his work regenerating The Lace Market area, Mich was also working with the city council and British Waterways as independent chairman on the redevelopment of the waterside area. His research took him to Sweden and Holland and Spain to see how they developed waterfronts. “In Barcelona, what we picked up there was that they were using an area with garages; people had set up businesses in these lock-up garages not far from the port. And it was taking off.” A seed had been planted in Mich’s mind.
When invited to visit the European Parliament to talk about entrepreneurship, Mich’s passionate speech about utilising imagination and innovation to create jobs for the future caught the ear of the VP of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani. “He came up to my table, looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I think we should be following these ideas up.’” Mich went back to Nottingham, and promptly invited Mr Tajani to visit the city to officially launch the Creative Quarter concept, which he did in December 2012. With interest in the area rising, and EU funding secured, the development of Sneinton Market Avenues A, B and C began in 2014.
Sneinton Market Avenues
Mich uses an analogy to explain how Nottingham changed in this period “It was like a train. It's been rusting in the sidings. Nobody wants to know. Then eventually, we think we could do something with it. So when you start that train moving, several things happen. You get a bit of help to put the coal in and somebody else puts in the water. When you bring those people together, and you get back on the track, all of a sudden, ahead it looks a lot brighter. And then it’s amazing how many more people want to jump onboard.”
Mich’s daughters Victoria Green and Becky Valentine have now taken over at Spenbeck, and are passionate about protecting the legacy of the corner of Nottingham their father saved from the bulldozers.
Victoria (L) and Becky (R), and with their father Mich at the NottinghamshireLive Business Awards 2021
Victoria says the one word that springs to mind to describe her father is ‘tenacity’. “If you want to know how Dad managed to do it - other people saw it as a challenge too far. Or they couldn't be bothered, or there wasn't anything in it for them. There may well have been someone with better leadership skills, or there could well have been someone with slightly better economic knowledge. But as a combination, there's only been one person that Nottingham has had in 40 years, who is not only all of those things but prepared to take on the challenge.”
The landscape is different now, and all three of them will acknowledge that getting things done was a lot easier in Mich’s heyday – much less red tape. But Victoria and Becky are making their own mark on The Lace Market via Spenbeck and their wider support of other city organisations, like the Heritage Panel, the Civic Society and Emmanuel House. “Our legacy is the fact that we haven't squandered it,” Becky says, “What we have done is carried on the mantle of custodianship. These buildings, The Lace Market, is family to us.”
They’re making massive financial commitments to the buildings, installing lead flashing to increase longevity, investing in sustainability, and capturing the history to make the area attractive. They believe in not just throwing money at the problem, but giving their time and expertise, and they see a knock-on effect in the way others respond to The Lace Market. Victoria says “We've got friends that have moved in recently to a building on Lace Market Square. And they want to know the history of the building; all of a sudden, you know, people are actually going, “I wonder what happened in our building.”
So what do they see as the next step for the eastside of Nottingham?
Becky would like to see the celebration of these distinct areas within the Creative Quarter (The Lace Market, Hockley and Sneinton), really making it the go-to commerce and entertainment centre. “You've got the Arena and the Ice Centre right on your doorstep. You're close to town, you've got the tram and the train here with all the fantastic inter-connectivity. You've got little delis and shops, and it really feels like the vision that Dad had hoped for 40 odd years ago has the opportunity to fly. And I think, piecing that together with what the Creative Quarter offers is a really positive thing. In our three distinct areas, there's an awful lot of businesses that want to be part of a community, and how do we drive that, consciously?”
Here’s to the next 40 years…
