ANCOATS BUILDINGS PRESERVATION TRUST LTD

Ancoats, the world's first industrial suburb, forms part of a potential World Heritage Site and its buildings include former cotton spinning mills, housing, community facilities and commercial buildings of every period from the 1790s.

Following decades of post-industrial decline, Ancoats is now being brought back to life as an urban village. Funding for the restoration and reuse of historic buildings in ABPT's care was secured from sources such as English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund, charitable trusts and the European Union. £14m was secured for the repair and regeneration of ABPT's two major projects: St Peter's and Murrays' Mills.

In addition to overseeing the physical regeneration of the Ancoats area, ABPT developed an educational outreach project. 'Skills, Schools & Stories' was an integrated programme of activities designed to provide opportunities for people of all ages to get involved in the restoration of Murrays' Mills and the regeneration of Ancoats.

ABPT received revenue funding to support its office and staff costs from charitable trusts and public funding sources. It also received project management fees from the Northwest Development Agency for the Murrays' Mills and St Peter's projects.

Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust (ABPT) was established as a Company Limited by Guarantee (Number 3139324) in 1995 and as a Registered Charity (Number 1052163) in 1996. Its constitution was based on the model Memorandum of Agreement & Articles of Association developed by the Architectural Heritage Fund. That is, ABPT was able to operate as a developer, often of last resort, by acquiring historic properties for repair and refurbishment for which no commercial developer could find an economically viable, sympathetic solution and for which there was no other hope for the building's rescue and retention.