Leigh: Renovation close to completion for former Bar Quaye building

Reported to have been built around 1795, the imposing building on the corner of King Street and Twist Lane has had a long history in Leigh, after being known as the Cock Inn, the Eagle and Child, and Bar Quaye over the years.

With the upstairs floors formerly used as office and storage space, the building has been completely derelict since Bar Quaye closed its doors after pandemic related difficulties in July 2022.

However, a large-scale renovation project has been quietly going on behind the scenes over the past 12 months, with BARE Capital transforming the building into ten modern apartments and a ground floor retail space.

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Inside one of the completed King Street apartments (Image: Leigh Journal) Launched seven years ago, BARE's niche is in developing historic buildings in northern towns that are going through, or are set to go through, wider regeneration projects.

With £11.4m in Levelling Up funding and a £20m long-term investment secured for Leigh, this was a big selling point for BARE's King Street project, as it aims to capitalise on regeneration projects by investing at the right time.

As a relatively small company, BARE hopes that its projects encourage further private investment to make an area's wholesale transformation a more realistic possibility, and ensure that its initial investment was a smart one.

The building's renovation has been ongoing for around 12 months (Image: Leigh Journal) Paul Preston, founder of BARE Capital, said: "The investment from the local authority [in securing the Levelling Up funding] definitely lit a bit of a spark for us.

"Things like this prompts investment from private companies because we have confidence that our investment is backed up by government funding, and I think sometimes it takes companies taking a bit of a financial risk to see long-term results.

"This is such a beautiful building and I think with a couple more private investors [in addition to the regeneration funding], this area of Leigh can definitely be transformed as a new gateway into the town."

Two of the apartments have already been snapped up (Image: Leigh Journal) With the King Street building a huge focal point in the town centre, it has been important for BARE to complete the renovation in keeping with the building's history and character, while also using local suppliers to support the wider community.

Explaining that there has been interest in the apartments as soon as viewing opened to the public, two rooms have already been snapped up and the entire project is due to be completed in the coming weeks.

Although plans for a local operator to take over the ground floor of the building fell through, Paul is hopeful that another investor, who knows the layout in Leigh, can take on the space and transform it into a vibrant bar, coffee shop, or community meeting point.

The renovation has been in keeping with the building's character (Image: Leigh Journal) "I remember coming to Bar Quaye when I was growing up, and I remember how busy it used to be", Paul added.

"We've seen that there have been improvements in Astley, Tyldesley, and Atherton, so I think its Leigh's time to experience some of this as we all want to see Leigh vibrant again."

The BARE Capital project will be completed in the coming weeks (Image: Leigh Journal) For more information about BARE Capital's King Street project, you can follow this link.