Resonance

Nudge Community Builders

Transforming The Local High Street

NAME OF ORGANISATION: Nudge Community Builders

LOCATION: Plymouth, Devon

YEAR FOUNDED: 2017

ABOUT: Nudge was set up by local people living in Stonehouse, Plymouth. Their mission is to “nudge” lasting change in surprising and enterprising ways to build a strong local community and economy.

INVESTMENT PURPOSE: To support a new project seeking to turn empty buildings on the community high street into thriving spaces for local businesses. 

INVESTMENT AMOUNT: £69,000

DATE OF INVESTMENT: 2023

SOURCE OF INVESTMENT: Resonance Community Developers

IMPACT: Community & Local Democracy; Poverty & Disadvantage

ABOUT: Nudge recognised that empty buildings in private ownership have caused long-term problems along the street for decades. The vision for this project was to make Union Street in Plymouth a street the whole world loves again. By making sure some buildings are owned by the community, Nudge aimed to create a street that meets the needs of local people. The ambition is to bring 4000qm of empty buildings back into use, and they have already created space for twenty-five small businesses. 

PURPOSE OF INVESTMENT: Nudge has acquired the C103 building on Union Street in October 2022 with the aim of demolishing the vast majority of the site, building commercial units on the ground floor and providing thirty accommodation units on the upper floors. This investment will support with the pre-development costs to enable the project to submit a planning application. 

Plymouth, the largest city in Devon and is currently experiencing high levels of inequality [1] : 

  • Several areas in Plymouth fall within the top 10% most deprived areas in England 
  • Unemployment is 5.1%, higher than both the regional and national average 
  • Plymouth city centre has 23.7% of families classed as vulnerable, and Stonehouse is substantially worse with 35.5% of families classed as vulnerable 
  • Stonehouse has 29% of the working age population claiming benefits

“Our ambition is to make Union Street a street the whole world loves. The team at Resonance has supported us at every twist and turn in helping us on our way to achieve this ambition.” Hannah Sloggett, Co-Director at Nudge Community Builders

[1] Source: https://democracy.plymouth.gov.uk/documents/s137103/Cavell%20Centre%20key%20demographic%20info%20Jan%202023.pdf

Resonance Limited is a company registered in England and Wales no. 04418625

Resonance Impact Investment Limited, a subsidiary of Resonance Limited, is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Firm number 588462.

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