We secured Levelling Up Funding (now MHCLG) and planning permission for the transformation of Melton Mowbray's historic Stockyard - turning a landmark livestock market into a thriving regional destination for food production, culture, and community that will put the Rural Capital of Food firmly on the national map.
The project introduces new food and drink production hubs, an Anchor mixed use building, refurbished Trader Halls, new public toilets, redesigned events square, and enhanced micro producer units – all conceived in a robust ‘agri-chic’ architectural language that celebrates the site’s agricultural heritage.
“This project is about more than buildings – it’s about people and creating a destination that celebrates Melton’s heritage, supports local businesses, and offers cultural experiences for all.”
Councillor Pip Allnatt, December 2025
1. Design Elements
Festival Square
The beating heart of the Stockyard
A reimagined public space that serves the community seven days a week, from busy market days and evening food events to large-scale festivals, cultural performances, and community cinema.
A much improved surface treatment with bold, brand-inspired markings defines pedestrian routes and creates a welcoming, human-scale environment, while new seating and lighting extend activity well into the evening.
Flexible by design, the square transitions effortlessly between everyday car parking and a fully activated events arena — giving Melton Mowbray a versatile civic space that will further contribute to the vitality of Stockyard and the wider town centre.
2. Anchor Building
Gateway to the new Stockyard
A three-storey mixed-use building combining flexible workspace for food producers and artisan businesses, education facilities to support skills development, a top-floor café and terrace that draws visitors into the site and supports a new daytime and evening economy.
The building Anchors the site by giving Stockyard a renewed presence on Nottingham Road, alongside siting on a newly created pedestrian access artery – leading from the higher footfall area of the site.
Designed with sustainability at its core, it features a tensile cable green climbing wall, timber cladding and metal standing seam top floor – delivering long-term environmental performance alongside its economic and cultural contribution to the regeneration.
3. Production Hub 1
Production Hub 1 provides up to six flexible food and drink production units – with optional mezzanine floors to maximise usable floorspace – creating new workspace that directly supports business growth and job creation at the heart of the Stockyard.
Photovoltaic panels to the south-facing roof reduce operational energy costs for tenants, while the glazed, brise soleil-screened frontage onto Festival Square puts production on public display, strengthening the food theatre experience that drives footfall and visitor spend across the wider site.
4. Production Hub 2
Production Hub 2 provides additional flexible food and drink production units, configurable to suit a range of business sizes and types, with an optional mezzanine level maximising the return from the available footprint.
Photovoltaic panels to the west-facing roof reduce operational costs, while the covered frontage with integrated planting and seating onto Festival Square creates an attractive, active edge that encourages dwell time and supports the wider visitor economy of the site.
5. Production Hub 3
Production Hub 3 is a compact incubator building at the new Nottingham Road pedestrian entrance, offering smaller, flexible production units designed to support emerging food and drink businesses at an early stage of growth. The adaptable layout and modest scale are deliberately designed to attract a diversity of tenants and future-proof the building against changing demand.
6. Nottingham Road Units
The refurbished Nottingham Road Units provide four modern studios for creative industries and start-ups, fully fitted for immediate occupation and designed to extend the Stockyard’s commercial offer to a broader range of tenants – making the most of an underutilised asset without compromising the robust, utilitarian character of the site.
7. Trader Hall
The Trader Hall – approximately 1,374m² of existing covered market space at the heart of the site – is upgraded and enclosed to function effectively all year round, significantly extending its commercial potential and the range of events it can host. The flexible interior accommodates up to 78 market pitches and is equally suited to cinema, performance, dining, and exhibition use — making it one of the most versatile assets on the site.
8. Toilet Block
The existing toilet block is replaced with a new, contemporary facility offering accessible, gender-neutral, and baby-changing provision – while a Changing Places facility and additional accessible toilets are distributed across the site within Production Hub 2 and at the Nottingham Road Units. Rainwater harvesting reduces mains water demand, and the robust glazed tile finish is designed to withstand the demands of high-volume public use.
Melton Mowbray’s identity as the ‘Rural Capital of Food’ is built on a unique concentration of protected food heritage, world-renowned local produce, and a food and drink manufacturing sector employing over 3,500 people. The Stockyard regeneration builds directly on these foundations – creating a purpose-designed hub where producers can manufacture, innovate, and trade in full public view, bringing the ‘Farm to Fork’ story to life for the 2 million people within a 60-minute drive of the town.
By co-locating production, education, retail, and events on a single destination site, the scheme ensures Melton’s status as the Rural Capital of Food is not just preserved but actively amplified — giving the town a flagship asset to compete on the national stage for food tourism and inward investment.
History in context
1. Medieval origins
(pre-1066 – 14th century)
Melton Mowbray Market (now called “the Stockyard” on its southern side) has one of the longest continuous market histories in the country which has been in existence for over 1,000 years. Documentary evidence of a market at Melton dates to 1077, when it’s recorded in connection with the Domesday survey, and the town received a formal market charter from Edward II in 1324, with Tuesday trading continuing since at least that date.
2. Town-centre market era
(Medieval – 1860s)
For centuries the market operated directly in Melton’s streets and market place, with livestock, sheep, and corn trading around the town centre (the Corn Market near Corn Cross, the Sheep Market on Nottingham Street). This persisted into the early modern period, shaped by the medieval street pattern and ancient buildings.
3. Crisis and relocation
(1860s–1870)
By the late 1860s the town-centre market had become a public health crisis – streets fouled with animal dung and a typhus and smallpox outbreak linked to market effluent. In 1869 land at Spital Leys (Scalford Road) was leased for 999 years, and a purpose-built cattle market opened in 1870 under the Melton Mowbray Cattle Market Act 1869.
4. Railway era
(1870s–1960s)
A rail link opened in 1879 connecting the market to London’s livestock trade, lasting until the line closed in 1964 (Beeching).
5. Modernisation
(1960s–1970s)
In 1963 the council modernised the market with new covered pens, and the selling firms formed Melton Livestock Auctions; in the 1970s the operating licence passed to Melton Mowbray Market Partners, marking a shift toward commercially run operations.
6. Redevelopment and external investment
(2014–2019)
The new covered cattle building opened its doors to vendors and buyers on Tuesday 23 May 2017, and was officially opened by Princess Anne in March 2018.
Phase One involved £5.5 million invested to replace dilapidated cattle sheds with a new state-of-the-art livestock building and auction ring, delivered by Morgan Sindall Construction with Pick Everard as cost/project managers.
In 2019, the market marked 150 years at its Scalford Road site.
7. Levelling Up Fund and redevelopment
(2022–present)
g+s developed a concept proposal for the regeneration of the Stockyard, which drove Melton and Rutland’s joint £23.95m Levelling Up (RIIA) successful bid in 2023.
g+s also developed the RIBA Stage3 proposals, which granted Planning Approval at Committee in 2025 and subsequently developed RIBA Stage 4. Following a programme and scope review, the project is due to start on site in late 2026.
Our proposal reimagines the Stockyard as a vibrant destination, with flexible production hubs that bring the theatre of food-making to life for visitors to watch and enjoy.
We create better routes, greening, and signage, which draw people between the Stockyard and the High Street, weaving new life through Melton Mowbray’s streets and shops. We give traders and entrepreneurs room to grow. We’re creating a place where people come together to celebrate Melton Mowbray’s food heritage – and keep coming back.
Impact
5,733m²
Combined space for food production, education, events, and cultural activities
183
Direct jobs created
50,000
Additional visitors to the region annually
2.6 : 1
Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)
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