Vision

The simple purpose of the Make-it Zone is to grow a community of makers of finely crafted goods in a building which is also accessible to the public at certain times. Potential customers will have the added value of seeing things being made and an e-shop will be our shop window. We’re not talking about gift shop trinkets, but beautiful, useful and durable products.

Low costs

Sharing space and some other resources doesn’t only lower costs. It gives you opportunities for cross-fertilisation and sharing in a common brand alongside your own.

Learning

In time, we will be providing after-school learning opportunities for young people interested in acquiring real hands-on skills. We plan to provide a fully-equipped double workshop for this. This one-to-one training could be free of charge if sufficient volunteers can be found. Older tradespeople, or ones between jobs, would be encouraged to impart their expertise in return for use of the workshop for the greater part of the weekdays.

Community

Our hope is that 40% of the site area will be operated by the community as display, shared workspace, gallery, courtyard and café, possibly under a community land trust.

City of a thousand trades

In the industrial revolution, Birmingham was famous not so much for its heavy industry as for its thousands of small factories and workshops. The revival of the Jewellery Quarter is an example of how small producers can lead economic growth. But it can’t stop there, and Make-it Zone will be a 21st century industrial revolution in miniature, leading industry away from its dependence on fossil fuels and globalisation.

Be a pioneer

If you have something to offer you can help to shape the future of this venture which will become “a place to be” attracting passing trade as well as a magnet for those from further afield who want something different, and an example for other business centres to learn from. We believe this fits into the government’s tourism objectives for 2012 and beyond.