Cop this for a new business

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Fortunately, for the city of Sunderland, businessman Charlie Hoult can see beauty where others see only eyesores.

Where Charlie differs from most beauty beholders, is that he can turn his visions into cash!

As we reveal today, the entrepreneur has spotted potential in a building that was considered by many as a monstrosity.

Brutalist architecture is an acquired taste.

Much like the maligned Sunderland Civic Centre building, the stark imposing structures of this type are not always welcomed or welcoming.

And the fact that many of the city’s ne’er do wells have passed through, and been locked up in, the old Gilbridge Police Station hardly enhances its qualities as a desirable location.

Thankfully, Charlie has an eye for this sort of thing.

His Hoults Yard venture is a case in point.

This once derelict old factory in Newcastle is now a thriving centre for a variety of creative businesses.

Charlie wants to create something similar and we should support the venture.

New buildings and calls for investment are all very well, but sometimes you have to work with what you have.

And Sunderland has some interesting areas that can benefit from creative thinking.

As Charlie says: “We’re very much a counter point in the market to the Vaux development over the road which is all brass and shiny and, therefore, more expensive. We’re more evolving and fun. We’re a little pressure cooker and we want to get that vibe going, right in the centre of the Mac Quarter.”

An arresting development, don’t you think?