Blacon is a housing estate on the edge of Chester situated within the 10% most deprived wards in England with a population of 18,000.

The Community Trust delivers services in childcare, education, youth work, recycling and business support. It has been in operation 20 years and has a turnover of approximately £1million.

The Trust operates from a former primary school previously owned by the county council. The building is 6,000 square foot in size and when transferred required considerable investment. It had no alternative use.

The Trust was operating in the area delivering childcare and youth services prior to the transfer of the building. Although respected as a social business delivering valuable services at neighbourhood level, the Trust initially had difficulty in persuading the council to transfer the building at less than market value. In order to acquire the building the project went through various stages in order to convince the local authority that the organisation was a valid partner and the building should be transferred to the Trust at nil cost. In the end the Trust settled for a 7 year lease at nil cost although still harbours a long-term intention to own the building outright. Key to the success of the project was the assistance received from an employee of the council whose main role was to act as the link person between the council and the third sector organisation.

Developing an integrated base with potential for expansion was a key component of the Trust's sustainability strategy moving from a grant dependent to an earned income footing. The move has accordingly allowed the Trust to expand its services significantly in response to market demand, to maximise cost efficiencies in use of accommodation and to upgrade the image and quality of its operation. As an indicator, the Trust has doubled its income over the past couple of years and moved consequently from 80% to just 20% grant dependency.

• Given the involvement of potentially many different officers from the local authority there is a need for one person who works within the council to coordinate the local authority response.
• Recruit champions and advocates early on
• Make the business case from day one and draft a comprehensive business plan
• Work with both junior and senior staff to ensure that all decision makers and influencers are fully onside
• Forget about negotiating terms until later stages - trying to drive a bargain too soon will tend to jeopardise the deal
• Be clear about your rights in terms of policy and legislation on asset transfer

Contact: John Every: john@blacon.org.uk