£9m injection to boost glass trade

A former glassworks is to get a massive £9 million cash injection creating at least 30 new jobs under ambitious plans to revive Stourbridge's once legendary glass industry.

The Glasshouse Development in Stourbridge will provide space for jobs and businesses, training courses at the Glasshouse College and a visitor attraction with a viewing gallery, heritage trail and cafe.

The announcement from the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands coincides with to-night's grand opening of the town's International Glass Festival and British Glass Biennale exhibition.

Redundant glassmakers will be recruited to pass on their traditional skills to future generations and preserve the historic art.

Twenty four new and refurbished specialist business units are to be built which can be rented by the hour by glassworkers and artists.

Work on the site will begin next summer and is ex-pected to be completed by autumn 2011.

Director of the Ruskin Glass Centre, Janine Christley, said it was vital to protect the heritage of the site to allow glassmaking to continue in one of the last glass factories in the region.

"We are taking on redundant glassmakers and getting them to work with young people to learn new skills," she said.

Full details of the project are set to be unveiled at the opening of the British Glass Biennale tonight by Advantage West Midlands' corporate director for economic development, Dr Richard Hutchins.

Dr Hutchins said: "This investment is about creating jobs and opportunities."