Ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of construction of the new White Friars Apartments

A ground breaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction at the new White Friars Apartments as part of the regeneration of Gloucester City centre.

The ceremony took place on Thursday, August 19 with numerous key people who are involved in the project and in regeneration attending the event to celebrate the occasion.

Guests included Councillor Richard Cook, leader of Gloucester City Council, Richard Graham MP; Councillor Collette Finnegan, Mayor of Gloucester; Jon McGinty, Managing Director at Gloucester City Council, Esther Croft, Development Director at Reef Group; Sam Carter, Director at EG Carter Ltd; The Very Reverend Stephen Lake, Dean of Gloucester and Chair of the City Centre Commission and Stephen Marston, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire and a representative of GFirst LEP.

This initial phase will see 19 apartments along with 5,000 sqm of retail space for Tescos built by E G Carter & Co Ltd who were appointed by Gloucester City Council.

As well as planning to complete Phase One in the Summer of 2022, E G Carter & Co Ltd are also currently on site with the £5m regeneration of King’s Square, which will see it become a focus for the city centre and events space for live performances and entertainment as well as a destination and meeting place for visitors and residents alike.

Councillor Richard Cook, Leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “We are delighted to see this project make further progress and hit another milestone. The Forum will be a transformative scheme for Gloucester, helping to make it a fantastic, ‘future ready’ place and it will complement the work already being done to attract digital businesses and investment to the county.”

Esther Croft, Development Director at Reef, said: “The location, scale and quality of The Forum is set to be unrivalled in the South West. These residential units and retail space are key elements of The Forum’s hyperlocal style campus, which will benefit from ‘future-proof’, advanced digital and environmental credentials.”

Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, said: “This is another step forward for the Forum and our city centre’s revival. When Tesco relocates in 2022 and Grosvenor House comes down residents will see tangible progress on this key site. We’re all looking forward to the future Forum!”

Sam Carter, Director at E G Carter & Co Ltd, said: “The Forum is a key part of Gloucester’s future identity; it’s very exciting to have a role in making this vision become reality.”