Queens
Cross is an area within the Northwest of Glasgow.
The history of the development of the Queens Cross
Group goes back to the 1960's, when like many other
areas of Glasgow, inner city demolition and blossoming
peripheral estates resulted in a devastating decline
in the local community. The population, which had
been 48,000 in 1945 fell to 4,700 by 1970 and resulted
in high levels of poverty and intolerable housing.
In 1976, in an attempt to tackle the growing housing
problem, local community based tenant groups formed
Queens Cross Housing Association Limited.
Over
the following years the Housing Association saved
the remaining tenement buildings, refurbished them
and rented them as social housing and developed an
intensive programme of new-build properties.
The
success of the regeneration is such that the area has become
almost unrecognisable from those early days. As the Housing
Association itself developed, there was a growing realisation
that housing in isolation was not enough and something more
had to be done to rebuild the economy of the community;
Queens Cross Workspace was established with the remit of
developing a business infrastructure for the creation of
job and training opportunities for the local tenants.
Over the past decade along with its subsidiaries; QC Consultants
& Project Managers and Queens Cross Elmwood, - collectively
known as the Queens Cross Group, it has achieved the following;
- The employment of 600 people within the Queens Cross property portfolio.
- The creation and ownership of 150,000 sq ft of office, industrial and retail property, with a further 35,000 sq ft in the next three years.
- A commercial housing programme of some 400 units city-wide.
- 100 trainees funded per year. From four year apprenticeships to confidence and capacity building.
- 110 businesses located in the Queens Cross area with a combined turnover in excess of £30 million per annum.
- Investment of over £2 million in community and environmental facilities.
- Assisting other community-based organisations to invest over £10 million within their own community activity