Mills and boom: Chairman outlines exciting vision for the future of Halifax's Dean Clough after amazing 40-year transformation from old Crossley Carpets factory

Back in 1983, the mill buildings that made up Dean Clough and had been home to Halifax’s giant Crossley Carpets were standing empty while a young Jeremy Hall was trying to make his mark as a jazz musician.

Fast forward to 2023 and the 22-acre site – formerly the old textile powerhouse of one of the world’s largest carpet companies – is now home to dozens of thriving businesses, restaurants and cafes, as well as a theatre and six art galleries – along with becoming an increasingly popular filming location.

Its latest starring role is in the final series of TV’s drama Happy Valley, starring Sarah Lancashire – set and filmed in Calderdale - where one cafe has been used for scenes as well as part of the site being transformed into the police station offices used by the characters in the hit series.

Now the ongoing development plans for the site include aspirations to build more than 100 luxury apartments.

Dean Clough chairman and managing director Jeremy Hall is so enthusiastic about the development and its community of tenants that at one point he says: “I run the risk of sounding like an evangelist here, but I really believe it. It is the people who make this place what it is.”

Dean Clough’s collection of 16 Victorian mill buildings stretching over half a mile were constructed between 1840 and 1870 by the Crossley family, who founded Crossley Carpets in 1822 and soon became the largest carpet manufacturer in the world employing thousands of workers from the district The subsequent decline in the textile industry forced closure in 1982 after which the complex was purchased for redevelopment.

The redevelopment consortium involved Jeremy’s father, textile and property businessman Ernest Hall (who was subsequently knighted in 1993), Jeremy himself and two other men – Jonathan Silver and Maurice Miller. Silver went on to redevelop Salts Mills in Saltaire while Miller remains a non-executive director involved in Dean Clough to this day.

Sir Ernest formally retired from the business around 15 years ago, with Jeremy taking the lead role in overseeing Dean Clough.

Mr Hall explains: “Our journey has forever really been about two things. One has about repurposing these buildings to allow them to be relevant in modern-day life. It is the combination of physically repurposing the buildings to make them work well and then the community of elements you have got here – everything from cafes and restaurants and hairdressers and beauticians and gymnasiums and artists and studios and galleries.

“Our journey has been that constant process of evolution. It is very easy to misunderstand the idea that the development was undertaken at a moment in time.

“It never was and it never will be. It is a constant process of evolution.”

In a sign of how the focus is on the future rather than the past, Mr Hall can’t recall when the exact anniversary of the takeover was.

But he adds: “The whole site was vacant. Even for us it is difficult for us to remember quite how it was. Every now and again you look at an old photo and think, ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t quite believe it looked like that’.

“‘Dean’ and ‘Clough’ are both Old English words which mean Valley and Ravine and the Crossley family quarried the stone out of the hillside to build these magnificent buildings. The magnificence of the buildings is attributable to the Crossley family.

“They were designed at the time to be efficient industrial buildings and the happy coincidence with that is that the regularity of them gives you a great flexibility in terms of the buildings and how they are capable of being repurposed and reused.

“There were very few of the buildings which would describe as being in a derelict condition. That was really the thing which made the difference. It allowed you to start using portions of the buildings without having to contemplate the building as a whole. It allowed an organic process of evolution and development which wouldn’t have been possible with a derelict building. It allowed the incremental approach.

“When we started it was literally a matter of using it space by space, area by area, room by room. There was no initial major development. The initial investment was about buying the site. From there, it was an incredibly organic approach to how you use the buildings.

“The first customer we had who is still here is John Brown who opened a garage. I think it was May 1983.”

At that initial stage, Mr Hall was also working as a jazz saxophonist, having trained at Leeds College of Music.

“It overlapped with working here but I gave up professionally about 30 years ago. I would be doing a small tour and playing in Aberystwyth and then driving back at 1am or whatever it might be.”

A passion for music ran in the family – both of his parents had been pianists who had met at the Northern College of Music in Manchester.

While it was Dean Clough rather than jazz that has ended up becoming his life’s work, Mr Hall has gone about creating a cohesive ensemble of different parts that add up to more than the sum of their parts.

“The journey is constantly about finding creative people, businesses and organisations who want to engage in the process of being here,” he says.

“Because your ability to achieve the outputs which are here are based on creating relationships with successful people and organisations which allow for the investment which is needed in order to move the whole site on and create the right calibre of offering.”

When he was asked what his favourite part of the job is, the answer is instant.

“People. That incredible mix of creative, dynamic people who are here and make the community the place you see. It is that to me that gives you the energy and excitement and enjoyment because you are so often experiencing other people’s journeys and seeing things you may not have imagined or foreseen.”

That is borne out by joining Mr Hall on a tour of the site where he seems to know almost everyone – from bar and shop staff to people popping out of offices we chance across and workmen constructing new facilities for forthcoming tenants.

Like any business involved in the commercial property world, Dean Clough has not been immune to the impact of Covid.

Mr Hall says the working population based at the site has dropped from about 4,000 pre-Covid to around 3,000 now.

But he is optimistic the site is ideally placed to take advantage of shifting business priorities following the pandemic.

“In the main the biggest fallout has been in relation to the large corporate organisations where there have been decisions to downsize and people working from home,” he explains.

“The most interesting thing is the entrepreneur sector has actually been very buoyant. We’ve had a lot of take up of space.

“We’ve had a quite a few lettings to companies who wanted to move from a more regimented structure physically to a more organic and flexible workspace with less regimented desking.

“I think it will go in that direction where the vast majority of people are working towards high-quality space and creating spaces which are appealing and attractive and tempting people back into the workplace. They deliver the elements you don’t get from working from home through collaboration.”

He says that thanks to the cultural impact of shows like Happy Valley and the redevelopment of The Piece Hall, there is an increasingly open door when it comes to getting companies to consider setting up in Dean Clough.

“People are increasingly aware of Calderdale and Halifax. If you talk about promoting the offer of Calderdale and Halifax, it is a very different proposition. People are increasingly interested in being in diverse, creative workspaces and environments. History and legacy are enormously important parts of that.

“What we have to offer today resonates with and is more relevant to the market than it ever has been. We offer something different which I feel has never been as meaningful, relevant and attractive as it is today. People are always going to be drawn to Leeds and Manchester but we have something captivating. I really believe there is a magical quality to it.”