The Vine culture hub in Peterborough takes step forward as council names chosen contractor

Plans to redevelop Peterborough’s central library into a culture hub have taken a step forward.

Peterborough City Council (PCC) has named the company it has chosen to deliver The Vine project as Pick Everard Limited.

Its cabinet is expected to sign off on the decision next week.

The contract value is just shy of £496k for multi-disciplinary design works to be carried out between April 2024 and March 2027, then The Vine is due to open on Broadway.

A second site, the ‘Goods Shed’, in Fletton Quays is also expected to house part of The Vine, funded by some of the £13.08m of government Towns Fund money the council allocated to the project.

PCC previously bought the former TK Maxx building on Bridge Street for £4m in the hopes of setting up The Vine there, but it later decided to sell it to private investors. A sale is yet to be announced.

The council says The Vine is the “flagship project” of its Towns Fund deal.

The library will continue to operate as a library and also provide education, community and commercial workspaces, it adds, while food and drink provision will be at the Goods Shed.

It also hopes the project will create more than 250 jobs.

Pick Everard Limited, based in Leicester, is a national consultancy working in property, infrastructure and construction.

PCC says it weighed possible contracts 60:40, with the larger portion going to quality including social value and the smaller portion going to price to determine the most advantageous outcome.