TENDERS are being invited for contracts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds at Gosport’s former Royal Navy Rum Store, where the £8.5 million redevelopment of the Grade II-listed building is now imminent.
The derelict landmark on Victoria Quay, which used to house the entire Royal Navy’s rum rations, will be brought dramatically back to life in the next two years.
And UK Docks Marine Services, which owns the building, has invited tenders from construction firms for repairs, alteration and refurbishment works and improvements to the building and land around it.
Details of the work being offered can be accessed at the South East Business Portal or Contractservice.
The Royal Navy’s former Rum Store is waiting for contractors to begin its revitalisation.
The contracts are set to be awarded at the end of the year with work beginning at the start of 2025.
Ben Mason, UK Docks’ Portfolio Manager, said: “It’s an exciting time because, after so much preparatory work by so many people and organisations to get us this far, we’re now reaching the point where we’re about to see spades in the ground.
“This project will provide huge opportunities for Gosport residents and businesses and reinvigorate a disused historic building which people can be proud of once again.”
The Rum Store is at the heart of a successful Gosport Borough Council-led bid to secure £18m from the Government’s Levelling-Up Fund for its Reconnecting Historic Gosport Waterfront regeneration programme.
With extra match-funding from UK Docks, it represents a huge £30m investment in the 5.7-acre Victoria Quay site at Royal Clarence Yard.
Recent decades had seen a decline in the area, mirroring the reduction of the Royal Navy but since the arrival of UK Docks in 2019, the area has been steadily on the up but the Government funding is a game-changer.
The major works, due to be completed by 2026 in its first phase, include renovation of the 6,890sqm Rum Store to provide new mixed-use space, centred around the maritime sector.
There will also be public realm enhancements to the coastal route, encouraging more visitors and connecting the town centre to the waterfront and Gosport’s historic fortifications.
An aerial view of the former Royal Navy Rum Store shows the scale of the area set to be brought back into working life in Gosport.
That first phase will see the Rum Store provide workshops, office space and retail units for a range of maritime businesses such as sailmakers, chandleries, naval architects, yacht brokers, and maritime training providers.
Other units will offer retail and hospitality, including a second-floor restaurant and bar with a rooftop terrace.
Between 150 and 200 jobs are expected to be created which will help deliver an estimated £11m annual boost to the local economy.
UK Docks’ Ben Mason stressed that everything that has been achieved or set to be achieved on the project is the result of collaboration by multiple agencies, (including local MP, Dame Caroline Dineage), working together for a common goal.
Dame Caroline Dineage MP with UK Docks' Ben Mason at the derelict former Royal Navy Rum Store, soon to be restored.
"It has been an ambition for UK Docks since purchasing the site that the area regains its full potential, but we couldn’t do it on our own,” said Ben.
“Working with Gosport Borough Council has given us access to Government funding and helped unlock solutions to problems that were bigger than just our site, such as local infrastructure.
“The council has exciting big plans for regeneration in the borough and we’re delighted to be a partner in that.”
Contractors seeking details of the works required with a view to potentially tendering should go to the South East Business Portal or Contractservice.