British firm, Dartington Crystal, has secured a UK 70,000 tourism grant from the European Regional Development Fund to pay for a glassmaking and leisure facility project.
The UK 500,000 “Barbican Gl…
British firm, Dartington Crystal, has secured a UK 70,000 tourism grant from the European Regional Development Fund to pay for a glassmaking and leisure facility project. The UK 500,000 “Barbican Glassworks” scheme will create 15 jobs at a new site under construction in the city of Plymouth on the south-west coast of England. Dartington Crystal is to open the visitor centre on the waterfront site of the former Victorian fish market in May this year. The new glassworks will include a studio where visitors will be able to see glassblowers at work while bottles from the city“s glass recycling plant will be crushed, melted and re-used in the studio“s gas-fired furnaces. The company has yet to recruit some of the centre“s retail staff, though it said key positions were filled. Company officials believe the centre – together with the proposed National Marine Aquarium – will be a major attraction for tourists and will also help the ongoing revitalisation of the area. Richard Barnes, the firm“s UK sales director said: “This project is us putting something back in an area which has a long maritime tradition. We think the Barbican could soon be one of the most attractive areas to be involved in.”