UPDATE: The restoration of shops and restaurants in Accrington Centre has now been completed and the team at The Intelligent Design Centre are pleased to have been a part of this heritage restoration project. The delegation from the National Lottery Heritage Fund who partially funded the project visited the properties [at the end of April] and were delighted with the completed work.

Owners of AYA Accountants on Blackburn Rd, Accrington, have become the first to appoint a contractor and start work on site to refurbish the shop front, part of the Townscape Heritage Initiative project to improve the appearance of shop fronts around the new Town Square.

Council Leader, Cllr Miles Parkinson welcomed the news; “Now that the Town Square is complete and looking great, with lots more events planned for 2019, our Townscape Heritage Initiative Team has moved their focus to the Blackburn Road shop restoration projects. It’s great news that work on the first property, AYA Accountants, is now getting underway, we want this to be the first of many. The THI team are working hard with the other owners in the area who have registered their interest, to help them with their 90% grant applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund and help them progress their schemes through the design and planning stages. Sentence removed

The Council’s Conservation Officer and locally based Intelligent Design Centre Architects worked closely with the owners of AYA Accountants to ensure the design met their needs and recognised the findings of their historic research. The owner, Mr Mahmood, said; “We’re delighted to lead the way on this project and have learnt so much about architecture and the history of Blackburn Road shops.”