'We want this to be a network for independent businesses and a sustainable way to grow your business in Wolverhampton city centre'

The fused. building has been dubbed "The West Midlands' first super salon" and will be home to a number of small, independent businesses from across the region who have been invited to make their home inside the new facility, which opened on Wednesday.

Inside, the building is already home to a hair salon called Shade, a barbers called Steel Wolf Collective and a podcast studio called fused. Creative, while a tattooist is in the final stages of setting up and, on the upper level, there will be wellbeing and aesthetic hubs dedicated to eyelashes and nails.

The centre is the next stage of a long-term project by BAX Construction at the building, which saw space. café open in November 2024, with managing director Ben Anslow saying that he was pleased to see the project finally get to the current phase of being able to open to the public and explaining what the ethos was.

He said: "I did think it was doing to happen fast, but with space. opening within 12 weeks of acquiring the building, it was a quite a big financial burden and, with the growing business and cash flow, it was important to have a sustainability model for the business.

"Now, it is sustainable and it is self-funded, with the money coming back into the company and allow us to carry on building it and I'm really proud of what we've achieved, not just me, but the big team behind me at BAX Construction, as everyone supports each other and that's part of the ethos of this place, of a family feeling. 

"What I've tried to create here, and what has already come to fruition, is a network for small, independent businesses that can come here and get cheaper rent than you would get on the high street, as spending £15,000 on a shop, plus the rates and electricity and water, are unsustainable.

"What this is is a sustainable way to grow your business and that's what I'm all about, creating that help for people within a setting where everyone can network together, so you can get your nails done and every business can link up together and help each other out."

Mr Anslow said the name fused. came from that principle of all the businesses being able to come together in one place and be a proper community and said that there was still space for businesses looking to come in and be part of that community.

Among the businesses already open and operating were hair salon Shade and barbers Steel Wolf Collective, with Shade owner Chloe Szubinski and Steel Wolf co-owner Ned Simmons both saying that they had been attracted to the new centre after speaking to Ben Anslow about it and said they thought the concept was a great one.

Ms Szubinski said: "Ben is one of my best friends and we'd spoken about this for a long time and I was on maternity leave and lost my job, so while it was awful then, it actually worked out perfectly as I live around here now and it's just more convenient with my lifestyle.

"It pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and do something for myself as well and what's nice is that Ben is very creative and gives his push on what he wants, but he's given me the chance to work with him and make decisions about how the business looks.

"My customers have loved it as well as they've been on this journey with me every step of the way from the old warehouse to what it is today and they're proud of me as well because it's my own little place and I love it."

Mr Simmons said: "We were based in Parkfields and we decided we wanted to come back into the centre of the city, so Ben put the offer to me and sold me on the project in about three minutes of conversation.

"It kind of reminds me of the Northern Quarter in Manchester and other areas that are hipster and cool areas, and we've seen the bigger picture of what it could be to create a family where there is an ecosystem and everything works together.

"It's great for our business to be involved and we've been able to rebrand as Steel Wolf Collective as we offer more services than we used to and we've got a collective as a business."

Ben Anslow said that part of what continued to drive him within the project was being a local lad and wanting to be able to help small businesses, as well as the city of Wolverhampton as a whole.

He said: "There is work to do for the regeneration of Wolverhampton as it's not the best place at the moment, but the local authority have been so supportive of me and everything I've asked of them, they've tried to be as amenable as possible.

"What I'm trying to do is bring fresh talent into Wolverhampton and show that Wolverhampton can be a nice place and I think that all links together from where I came from, five years ago, as a normal lad on the tools.

"I had no funding and everything I've done has been on my own, so I think that passing that onto small businesses that you can do well in Wolverhampton and you can building something up is really important."