The Engine Room
The University of Manchester
Sector: Creative Industries
Type: Community Interest Company (CIC)
Who would you like to contact?
Dr Eric Lybeck
Academic, venture lead
Eric.lybeck@manchester.ac.uk
Problem
The Wayfarers Arcade in Southport suffers from long-term decline, high vacancy rates, and a lack of accessible civic space for learning, work and community activity. Local creatives, students, and residents lack affordable, calm, inclusive places to gather, develop skills, and participate in regeneration efforts. The Engine Room addresses this civic and spatial gap.
Solution
The Engine Room restores the historic Wayfarers Arcade as a living civic space by combining creative enterprise, community learning, and place-based regeneration. As a Community Interest Company, it provides an accessible hub for co-working, gentle making, workshops, and heritage skills development, allowing residents, students, and professionals to gather in a calm, inclusive environment. The space hosts low-cost and free activities—from micro-workshops to community groups—removing barriers to participation while strengthening local networks.
Drawing on research from the University of Manchester, the project pilots new models of civic education, creative entrepreneurship, and community wealth building in a town centre facing commercial decline. It supports the development of local talent, fosters new micro-businesses, and catalyses collaboration across cultural, educational, and voluntary sectors. By activating unused space and promoting sustainable forms of work, learning, and cultural activity, the Engine Room contributes to the long-term regeneration of the arcade and the wider town.
Sustainable Development Goals addressed
Some facts:
- Though not intended, interestingly, 80% of Engine Room coworking members are women.
- Southport’s 18-40 yr old population goes to 8% of the national average, with 50% of the population aged 60 or above.
UKRN Services CIC
A combination of inconsistent research practices, training gaps, low confidence and rising external scrutiny threatens UK institutional standards, research funding and reputation.
The 1928 Institute
The University of Oxford
The 1928 Institute targets a lack of representation, systemic data gaps, and under-addressed discrimination facing the British Indian community.
The 1752 Group
University of York
Sexual misconduct by staff is under-reported and under-researched. Higher education institutions in the UK need to be leading the change to prevent cultures of abuse, respond effectively and without inflicting further harm, ensure robust, student-centred reporting and investigation procedures, and implement policies and procedures to eliminate the sexual misconduct of academic, professional services, contracted and temporary staff.
Tabletop R&D
Queen Mary University of London
Game designers, developers and publishers often have questions about their games which requires custom answers, such as evaluation of different strategies, game balance, frequency and types of actions played, victory conditions triggered most often, etc.