First glimpse of Wolverhampton's £10m Interchange 10 building

The £10.6 million building is part of the city council's wider regeneration plans, and is the second phase in a scheme that also includes the regeneration of the old steam mill building in Corn Hill, which was recently purchased by Neptune and will be knocked down after engineers deemed it too dangerous to repair.

Interchange 10 is a mixture of office and shopping space, with a Hungry Horse pub the first tenant announced.

After a tour of the site, Councillor Peter Bilson, cabinet member for city assets, said: "It's a wow factor, there is no question.

"There has been considerable interest expressed in the Grade A office facilities and I am delighted to hear about that, it is going to bring lots of jobs with it. There is a level of excitement amongst businesses who are interested in coming here.

"What is crucial about today I think is that it symbolises a key regeneration project for the city council - and the city in general - where the council put its money forward to kick start regeneration and signal a level of confidence in the city as a whole."

The Interchange 10 sits alongside the first phase of the scheme, the new bus station, and has acted as a trigger for other schemes including the upcoming refurbishment of the 500-space railway station car park.

Councillor Bilson said: "And thankfully, after a lot of hard work by all of our partners, we are almost ready to press the button on having a brand new railway station for the city. The interchange is really taking off."

As part of the I10 project, Balfour Beatty has committed to using as many local workers as possible, with a target of 50 per cent.

Project manager Peter Fennell said they are currently at 45 per cent, but as work on the interiors of the building steps up more Black Country companies will come on board, and whenever possible they source building material locally.

Two new apprentices from the City of Wolverhampton College are also due to start at the site in coming weeks, and Marie Bintley, the council's head of city development, said when the local authority leads on regeneration schemes they ask contractors to put forward proposals for local training and recruitment.

She said: "We want the city to benefit from regeneration, as well as the people in many different ways."

The project is due to be completed at the end of this year.