Partners strike gold in national awards for Fruit Market regeneration

Regeneration partners Wykeland Group and Beal Homes have won national awards recognition for the remarkable transformation of the Fruit Market in Hull.

The Wykeland Beal joint venture of the two highly-respected local companies won the Gold award for Best Mixed-Use Development in the prestigious WhatHouse? Awards, the Oscars of the housebuilding industry. Wykeland Beal also took the Silver award in the Best Regeneration Scheme category.

Wykeland Beal was honoured during a glittering ceremony attended by more than 1,300 professionals from the housebuilding and property industries at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, hosted by TV presenter Clare Balding and cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy.

The Gold and Silver awards recognise the transformation of the Fruit Market from near-dereliction into a thriving urban village.

Just a few years ago, the historic waterfront area – once home to the city’s fruit and veg trade – was a picture of decline, its warehouses abandoned and cobbled streets silent.

Now, the Fruit Market is one of the fastest-growing mixed-use communities in the North of England and buzzing with life once more.

The £80m regeneration programme delivered by Wykeland Beal, working in partnership with Hull City Council, has created a residential, commercial, creative and cultural quarter blending the very best of old and new.

At its heart is a high-quality residential development, offering the urban lifestyle and energetic vibe familiar to other major cities, with residents having independent shops, restaurants, bars and galleries on their doorstep.

The WhatHouse? Awards judges hailed the Fruit Market as an “excellent example of inner city regeneration” that had given “a once-forgotten area of Hull a new lease of life”, while the new homes are “fully integrated into a new, vibrant and truly mixed-use destination”.

The judges added: “This is a highly successful development that has been delivered thanks to the joint venture with Hull City Council and the vision and determination of local developers.”

Beal Chief Executive Richard Beal said: “Our work in the Fruit Market has claimed several regional awards and we’re proud it has now gained recognition on a national level.

“We’re particularly delighted that Hull’s leading regeneration scheme has been judged to be outstanding against developments up and down the country.

“The transformation of the Fruit Market shows what can be achieved by local companies who understand the history and heritage of the area and have a vision for bringing it back to life through sympathetic development.

“We’ve reinvented the Fruit Market through strategic investment and innovation, including through the creation of a unique residential community enjoying all the benefits of city living in Hull’s most vibrant and attractive location.”

Wykeland Managing Director Dominic Gibbons said: “The regeneration of the Fruit Market is an outstanding example of a mixed-use development providing transformative and long-lasting benefits.

“We developed our regeneration vision for the Fruit Market with Beal Homes back in 2010 and it’s been exciting to see it become reality, with further investment still to come.

“The long-term investment we have driven into the area has created scores of independent, local businesses and hundreds of jobs. It has also retained in Hull one of the city’s leading businesses, Arco, in a new, showpiece head office.

“All of this has been achieved while realising the Fruit Market’s rich potential as a unique and vibrant place where people live, work and play.”

For full details of the WhatHouse? Awards winners go to www.whathouse.com/news/whathouse-awards-2021-winners