UK: The group fighting to preserve the Grimsby Ice Factory and its 80-year-old refrigeration compressors has been buoyed by plans for a regeneration of the area.

North East Lincolnshire Council’s proposed Greater Grimsby Town Deal intends to work in partnership with Government and major. This will include major projects at the Port of Immingham,

Stallingborough Enterprise Zone and in Grimsby and Cleethorpes town centres. The initiative proposes an initial five year investment plan of up to £36.9m of new Government investment.

The proposals are backed by an elite team including former chancellor Norman Lamont and local entrepreneur and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross.

Ross is also president of the Great Grimsby Ice Factory Trust (GGIFT), the group fighting to preserve the historic but derelict Ice Factory and the four iconic J&E Hall compressors it still contains.

“This Town Deal emphasises the preservation Grimsby’s maritime heritage, and includes the Kasbah as a proposed conservation area,” said GGIFT chair Vicky Hartung. “GGIFT president, David Ross, is chair of the Greater Grimsby Board that will lead on the implementation of the plan, which we believe could provide the ideal economic and cultural context for the successful re-purposing of the Grimsby Ice Factory,” she added.

The Grimsby Ice Factory was built in 1900 to support the Grimsby fishing industry. The largest ice factory in the world, it closed in 1990, and has since stood derelict and crumbling in Grimsby docks. The Grade ll*-listed building still contains much of its original refrigeration equipment including four massive, 80-year-old, four-cylinder, J&E Hall ammonia compressors installed in the 1930s.