May 25 was an exciting day for Whitehaven.

Nearly 20 years after closing its doors in 2002 the town’s bus station reopened as a business hub offering office, hot-desking and meeting space, as well as a range of support and facilities to nurture start-ups.

And, in the last few months, the formerly derelict building has got its buzz back with a variety of businesses using the space and locals taking advantage of the food and drink on offer at its Peddler restaurant.

The redevelopment was led by BEC (Build Extraordinary Communities), with the help of partners including Copeland Council and the Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners. Sellafield put £5.7m of funding into the £8.2m project.

The building is home to the 25th Barclays Eagle Lab in the UK and as such will offer businesses access to banking services and other support as well as hosting a programme of events. Businesses can also access mentoring via Barclays and the Bus Station has spaces equipped with technology for rapid prototyping, laser cutting and 3D printing.

As well as operating the Peddler restaurant at the Bus Station, Osprey Management Group has relocated its head office to the site.

It was formerly headquartered at the Galloping Horse, another one of its premises in Workington. It also runs Dockray Hall, in Penrith.

"It's a great working environment and it's very good in terms of networking and meeting people," says director of operations Craig Lowery.

"We're already developing a few opportunities with one of the other tenants in the offices now so there might be some business that we're going to do together in a couple of months.

“Hopefully it will help raise our profile in the business community.”

Craig says Barclays is helping the business to connect with people who can help it with everything from funding opportunities to cutting its carbon footprint.

"There's various things we can do in the hospitality industry to improve our carbon footprint and there are contacts through the Eagle Labs we are dealing with now to see if there's any value that can be added to our existing estate," he says.

Osprey employs 70 people in total, of which 28 work at the Peddler.

"We've been delighted with the success of the Peddler so far," says Craig.

"Opening it as the restrictions were just easing, plus the challenges for the hospitality industry in recruitment, it was a tough time but we've got a great group of people.

“There's a lot of great little bars and cafes and restaurants now in Whitehaven and we see ourselves as just complementing it to make the overall Whitehaven experience much more attractive for tourists and locals alike.”

Two of the Bus Station’s regular residents are Kate Wright, owner of digital marketing agency Kate Wright Digital, and Oliver Hodgson, owner of creative communications company Platinum Live.

While Oliver rents an office full time, as a flexi member Kate is able to use the space for hot desking and meetings eight days a month and also has the Bus Station as her registered business address.

"The biggest benefit for me has been the people side of it and just just seeing other people again," says Kate.

"As a one-man-band if you're working from home, you're just not getting that contact. I've already made loads of friends with everyone that works with us. It's a lovely little community."

She says John McAllister, the ecosystem manager for the centre, and manager Clare Flay use their local knowledge to help connect its residents to potential mentors, clients or other useful contacts.

The same goes for others using the space as well, who are constantly sharing ideas and giving feedback on each other’s work.

"We can actually talk to each other about our clients and what they're doing and support each other," says Kate.

Oliver says his daily visits to the Bus Station are far preferable to working from home.

"It's really progressive to have this kind of facility in Whitehaven,” he says.

“There's always a flow of people coming into the meetings and for training.

"You can get access to mentors, funding rounds, venture capitalists, and because there are Eagle Labs all over the country in the UK you can connect with them all. There's a lot of collateral, like email newsletters with insights from different people from different kinds of Eagle Labs, that is really useful.

“You feel like you're part of a bit of a wider family. You're not just having an office, you actually have a community which I think is really important.”