Halifax's Piece Hall records most successful year since 2017 reopening

A renovated 18th Century cloth trading hall has recorded its most successful year since reopening, according to its annual report.

Halifax's Piece Hall Trust brought in £4.6m in 2021-22 - 10% of which was Calderdale Council support but the rest generated from its own activities.

The trust chairman said it was a "significant" shift from 2018 when half of its income was from council funding.

The landmark building reopened in 2017 after a £22m restoration.

Chairman Sir Roger Marsh said since then it had contributed more than £50m to Calderdale, in line with its original goal of boosting the local economy and bringing in £5.30 for every £1 spent on its running costs.

He also said it was living up to its ambition of becoming an internationally-admired, widely-visited and highly-successful attraction in its own right, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Its annual reports showed income from the hall, which remains free to the public, was up 75% on the previous Covid-hit year and gross profits had risen by £1.53m to £3.4m.

Among many events, the Live at the Piece Hall series of concerts featuring artists including The Specials, Manic Street Preachers and New Order alone brought 40,000 people into the borough, were highlighted with artists keen to play in the historic setting.

Sir Roger previously said that to keep the desired free access, some support would likely always be needed from a public funding source but the more successful the Piece Hall was, that amount would be reduced.

The building was built in 1779 as a trading centre for handloom weavers selling "pieces" of locally-made cloth.

The original 315 units in the arcades - once used for storing and trading the cloth - now contain new shops, cafes and offices.

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