‘Chaotic’ Glastonbury Red Brick factory project given more funds

A £2.89m government-funded renovation project continued to receive payments months after the local authority overseeing the cash had put it on hold, according to financial experts.

Somerset Council officially ‘paused’ funding for the Life Factory project in Glastonbury in January 2024 amid serious concerns about its management.

Auditors have now revealed payments totalling £420,000 were made by the council to the project between May and December 2024.

The council said the money had been used to pay apprentices and to ensure the rest of the site was watertight, but councillor Mike Rigby said as the project proceeded, “delivery was chaotic and progress slow”.

The derelict former factory block, ‘Building C’ of the Red Brick buildings, was meant to be transformed into a community events space, offices, and other facilities, called the Life Factory.

The plan was to complement the previously restored other buildings on the site which accommodate a cafe, local businesses and a community radio station.

Building work had started on the Life Factory, but several sub-contractors claimed earlier this year that they had not been paid for work they had carried out.

A social enterprise called the Red Brick Building Centre is responsible for the project, and its old leadership board set up a subsidiary called Beckery Construction Company Ltd (BCC) to deliver it.

BCC was put into voluntary liquidation in early November.

Its statement of affairs showed, as of 3 November, it had assets of £4,800 and 26 creditors, to which it owed £686,259.

Beckery Construction, Red Brick Building Centre and Somerset Council were all criticised in an independent audit published in May.

The most recent external audit report, by Grant Thornton, also “identified significant weaknesses in the council’s operational, governance and financial management” of the Life Factory.

The auditors said the council should “urgently review” arrangements for other projects where the council is the accountable body “to ensure significant weaknesses do not exist”.

Duncan Sharkey, chief executive of Somerset Council, said: “We recognise the failings in the past and are taking action to protect public funds and manage risks for the local community.

“We have already shared details with Avon and Somerset Police earlier this year regarding matters related to the project and we are continuing to cooperate with them. We cannot share further detail at this stage to ensure due process is followed.”

The council also said it was looking at how it could recover funding allocated to the project and was “taking appropriate steps to terminate the grant”.