Back to life

Former Conservative Club on Union Street, Oldham is to be new Mediscan Diagnostic Services.

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THE SITE where Sir Winston Churchill once famously gave a speech is being transformed into a medical firm's headquarters in a jobs boost for Oldham.

Mediscan Diagnostic Services is relocating from Tameside to the former Conservative Club on Union Street, in Oldham town centre, creating 20 jobs in the borough.

Oldham Council has entered into a property agreement for the historic building that includes Mediscan carrying out a full internal refurbishment, and restoring the impressive façade, at a cost in the region of £400,000. Once this has been completed ownership of the building will be passed to the firm. Mediscan is Care Quality Commission approved and has contracts with 57 NHS clinical commissioning groups across the country.

The company provides a range of key services within the community including ultrasound and MRI, audiology, dermatology, ophthalmology and endoscopy - meaning people can access them seven days a week closer to home. This helps GPs to diagnose issues early so they can provide faster treatment to patients.

The building, which covers four floors and 8,750 sq ft was built in 1911, though a Conservative Club had stood on the site since 1874 and that was where future Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill made his speech after becoming Oldham's MP in 1900.

Councillor Jean Stretton, Oldham Council Leader, said: "We are delighted that Mediscan Diagnostic Services has decided to come to Oldham's Independent Quarter and we welcome them to the town centre.

"Firms like Mediscan Diagnostic Services are increasingly seeing the borough as a place to invest and as somewhere that is serious and proactive about business.

"When this building became available at auction several years ago it was already in a state of disrepair and we bought it because we didn't want to see it decay any further. We then set about finding a new business to take it on, bring it back into productive use and ultimately boost the local economy.

"This move is good news for everyone as it is bringing a prominent and historic building on one of the main gateways into the town centre back into use."

Dr Noman Ehsan, from Mediscan Diagnostic Services, said: "We will soon move our office to Oldham Town Centre and are looking forward to it. We would like to say thanks to Oldham Council for helping us out."

The conservative club closed in 1996 and a year later it was transformed into Mr Wrigley's restaurant and wine bar. The name came from Arthur E Wrigley, a Conservative candidate who laid the foundation stone of the club.

The building later became Italian eaterie Parmesan and Pepper and was last used as Indian restaurant the Taj Mahal.

Since the Independent Quarter initiative was launched in 2013 a number of traders have already moved or relocated into new premises after receiving support.

The focus is to support businesses in the Independent Quarter in the area located between Yorkshire Street, Clegg Street and Union Street East.

For further information on Oldham's Independent Quarter visit: www.iqoldham.co.uk or call 0161 770 2077.