Some £1,804,000 of Warwick District Council’s accounts for next year, along with extra funding from development agency Advantage West Midlands, has been set aside for sprucing up the area south of the canal.

People hoping to start a business will be able to gain advice and support at a new ‘enterprise hub’ at Brunswick Healthy Living Centre in Shrubland Street.

Workspace, interview rooms, training and computer facilities will form part of the centre’s new extension, and a community enterprise officer will be on hand to answer questions and offer tips to anyone aiming to start a business.

Another area for those starting out in the business world, as well as established professionals in the hi-tech and creative industries, will be the Althorpe Innovation and Enterprise Centre at the site in Althorpe Street where the BT depot was demolished in March.

Arts workshops and recording studios are among ideas for the transformation from derelict structures into creative spaces of the railway arches between Clemens Street and Court Street.

Anyone who thinks they could be a potential tenant is invited to contact Ray Smith on 833908 or email enterprise@warwickdc.gov.uk

District council spokesman Richard Brooker explained that although the money comes out of district council accounts, the £1,804,000 allocated to the regeneration of Old Town is taken from Advantage West Midlands funding and is not taken from council tax.

Leamington Old Town Business Association chairman Graham Allen welcomed the plans.

He said: “We are in favour of the area being renovated physically and in terms of more businesses coming in as well.

“But we are hoping for much more in the coming years.

“There is plenty of scope for regeneration in Old Town, particularly alongside the development of the old Ford site and around the canal. We are very keen to see a spread of different businesses that would attract more people to Old Town.”