A city council-backed masterplan for Hanley is expected to transform the city centre by 2050. Credit: Place Midlands

The Pipeline | Stoke-on-Trent

17 August 2026 17:10 Mike Sheridan Comments (2)

Following on from Pipeline Wolverhampton, Place Midlands takes a closer look at the emerging picture in Stoke on Trent. Here’s our rundown on what we’re keeping an eye on in the Potteries.

One of the original homes of Britain’s heavy industries, the city of the six towns has spent a long time figuring out what comes after ceramics and coal. So far, so many oatcakes.

The city council’s emerging local plan consultation whirred into its Regulation 19 phase earlier this month, with plans to turn the area’s swathes of brownfield potential into 19,000 extra homes and an extra 220 acres of employment land between now and 2040.

Stokies might justifiably say they’ve heard it all before – but is the city finally entering a period of delivery, or is this just another chapter in Stoke-on-Trent’s long-running story of frustrated potential?

At a glance

Local authority: Stoke-on-Trent City Council (unitary)
Population: Approx 260,000
Combined authority: None
Key sectors: Manufacturing, ceramics, logistics & distribution, digital & creative industries, healthcare, higher education
Major employers: Bet365, North Midlands NHS Trust, Staffordshire University, Churchill China, Steelite International, Michelin
Regeneration pipeline: £500m(est)

Key schemes in the city

Glancy Nicholls developed a masterplan for Hanley alongside the city council, which included a showpiece arena development at Etruscan Square. Credit: Glancy Nicholls Architects

Etruscan Square

Residential-led, mixed use
Developer: Genr8 PfP Igloo
Status: Planning

Not the largest, but possibly the most high-profile regeneration opportunity in the city.

The demolition of Hanley’s unloved concrete bus station and a former 1970’s-style shopping precinct in the early 2010’s was welcomed by most – but left an gaping hole, which is yet to be filled.

The transport hub moved across the road, a £15m purpose built bus station taking the place of a former surface car park on John Street, but the seven-acre plot it replaced on Charles Street remains boarded up, for the time being at least.

The former Hanley bus station is set for redevelopment in 2027. Credit: Place Midlands

But there are signs that something better may be about to rise from the ashes. The city council named Genr8 PfP Igloo as its preferred bidder for a 110-home first phase regeneration last year.

Outline proposals for phases two and three, which include a further 153 apartments, a 138-room hotel and a “trophy building” – a 3,600-capacity arena – have been scrapped.

Why it matters: Described as one of the most important regeneration sites in the city, Etruscan Square has been a symbol of Stoke-on-Trent’s inertia for more than a decade. A fully delivered, showpiece scheme in the middle of Hanley would send a powerful message about the city’s future ambitions, and its ability to deliver on them.

What’s next: Construction is expected to start in 2027.

Capital&Centric has launched plans for phase one of a redevelopment of Spode Works in Stoke. Credit: Capital&Centric

Goods Yard & Spode Works

Residential
Developer: Capital & Centric
Status: Completed (Goods Yard), Planning consultation (Spode)

Manchester social impact developer Capital & Centric has been exporting its magic formula to Staffordshire in increasing amounts since it set its sights on the region in 2020, announcing a partnership with the city council to redevelop a former railway and canal goods transfer site near Stoke-on-Trent railway station.

The 174-apartment scheme was signed off last year and has already made a big impact, paving the way for further buy to let developments in Stoke and handing the developer a foothold in the region.

Capital & Centric is currently involved in four regeneration schemes in neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme and its latest enterprise could also set a useful precedent for former industrial regeneration projects in the city.

The ten-acre Spode Works is deeply interwoven with the fabric of the city. One of the city’s most famous pot banks, the pottery wheels at Spode turned for more than 200 years until the works was brought down in 2008 – a casualty of rising costs of UK production and the increasing allure of offshore manufacturing.

Long-term city-backed regeneration efforts now appear to be coming to fruition after Capital&Centric was appointed to a first-phase project last year, with plans for retail and exhibition space alongside offices and padel courts (of course) lodged in June.

The developer is promising a “buzzing neighbourhood” with “new homes, indie cafés, bars, restaurants, creative workspaces and lush public spaces” in later phases, set to include more than 100 homes, while respecting the heritage of the site.

Why it matters: Spode is a canary in a coalmine of dozens of similar sites across the city – a historic former pot bank which is being reimagined for 21st century uses. If Capital & Centric can make it work here, it bodes well.

What’s next: A planning decision is expected from Stoke-on-Trent City Council by October.

Former mine workings at Chatterley Whitfield could become a “Black to Green” eco park under regeneration plans. Creidit: Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Chatterley Whitfield

Residential / Energy
Developer: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Status: Masterplanning / investment opportunity

What comes after ceramics and coal? The exact answer to that question will be delivered in some form or another at Chatterley Whitfield.

The future of what was once the largest coal working in the North Staffordshire coalfield is now emerging as once of the region’s most intriguing potential developments.

Ambitious eco-park proposals for the local authority-owned 250-acre site were unveiled at UKREiiF last year, including green energy production, a potential data centre and a linked distributed heat network, set to channel waste energy from the development into the city’s existing heat network system.

The site underpins more radical desires to improve the city’s energy resilience and infrastructure, with the local authority targeting “high levels of energy self-sufficiency from low carbon sources” as part of the ten-year plan to develop the site.

A total of 1,750 houses were also included in the emerging local plan, the largest housing allocation in the document.

It is an audacious proposition. Much of the historic colliery is in poor condition and remains at risk, meaning any successful regeneration will have to reconcile the demands of a modern green-energy development with one of Britain’s most significant surviving coal-mining landscapes.

Why it matters: Chatterley Whitfield is by far the largest and most ambitious regeneration scheme in the city, with an interesting target buried in the city council’s economic development strategy of creating up to 500 jobs in the green energies industry. Much like Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent has spotted an opportunity to pivot on its former heavy industries as green energy hubs.

What’s next: Masterplanning and more feasibility studies.

They said it

“This is how we will rebuild our city and restore trust in regeneration: a clear plan, the right partners, and a firm commitment to delivery. No more false dawns – just real, tangible progress for Stoke-on-Trent.” Cllr Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for regeneration, announcing the appointment of Gener8 Kajima to Etruscan Square last year.

What we’re watching in Stoke-on-Trent

Progress on the city council’s city centre masterplan. Launched this year, its aims include boosting footfall in Hanley by driving more residential development on brownfield plots in the city centre between now and 2050.
Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone – a 300-acre employment site bordering the A500, which is underpinned by Harworth’s Chatterley Park site. Millions of sq footage in industrial and logistics plots will be brought forward here.
Local government reorganisation is coming for Staffordshire, and an expanded unitary authority will grow the city’s influence and potentially ease its financial woes.
What’s next for Tunstall Library? Plans to redevelop the historic public building into 39 apartments were knocked back over heritage concerns earlier this year.
Plans for the next phase of the Smithfield development, which have already changed the face of Hanley, are expected to include more white-collar employment hubs as part of the city centre masterplan.

The verdict

It would be optimistic to claim that Stoke-on-Trent has already reached a turning point in its regeneration.

Hanley is looking desperately tired and some of the city’s social problems are deep rooted, and not going anywhere fast. Even successful schemes such as Smithfield feel a little half-completed and on the ground, you can’t escape a feeling that there is so much more to come than has already been delivered.

But perhaps that’s the point. For all the false starts, stalled masterplans and unfulfilled promises of the past, the city’s pipeline now looks considerably more credible than it has done for some time.

Goods Yard has shown that high-quality residential development can work. Etruscan Square finally appears to be edging towards construction, while Spode offers the tantalising prospect of turning one of the city’s most important industrial relics into a new neighbourhood. Beyond the city, Chatterley Whitfield and Ceramic Valley point towards a brighter, broader economic transformation, rather than simply another attempt to make Hanley look a little shinier.

Stoke-on-Trent still has a huge amount of ground to make up, and turning a collection of ambitious schemes into a functioning, prosperous city will take considerably more than cranes and new apartments.

But for perhaps the first time in a long time, the city has not just a vision but, crucially, some evidence that it can actually deliver.