THE PHILADELPHIA WORKS
Owned by the community. Built for the future.
A historic industrial site in the village of Philadelphia, just North of Houghton-le-Spring is being brought back to life as a place for local people to work, learn, eat, celebrate and belong.
And you can be part of it.
The Philadelphia Works is one of the most significant historic industrial sites in the North East. We're giving it back to the community it was built to serve.
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Heritage Transport Experience
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Café, street food and catering
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Nursery and early years childcare
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Independent retail and makers' market
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Skills training and employment pathways for young people
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Weddings, events and celebrations
This is your chance to own a piece of it.
Invest in the Philadelphia Works and help shape what this place becomes for your community, and for generations to come.
The Philadelphia Works — Houghton-le-Spring. Over 20 buildings across a landmark industrial site.
Built to power a region.
Ready to power a community.
The Philadelphia Works has been at the heart of this region's story for nearly 150 years.
Built in 1882 for the Lambton Colliery Company, its workshops maintained the locomotives and machinery that kept the North East's coal industry running. In 1905 a power station was added to the complex — one of the earliest examples of electric infrastructure in the region, supplying power to local tramways and collieries across Tyne and Wear.
After nationalisation the site became the central engineering workshops for the National Coal Board. Generation after generation of local people worked here, learned their trade here, and built their lives around what happened inside these walls.
The buildings that remain, many of them Grade II listed, still carry that history in every brick. The arched windows, the clock tower, the vast machine shop floors: these aren't just buildings worth saving. They're part of who this community is.
But they won't survive without investment, imagination and people like you.
That's what this share offer is about.
Own a piece of The Philly
Community shares are a simple, people-powered way to invest in something that matters.
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Invest from as little as £100
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Open to anyone over 16, including local businesses and organisations
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Earn interest on your investment from year three, funds permitting
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One member, one vote. No matter how much you invest, your voice carries equal weight
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Your money stays local, building something permanent for this community
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The share offer runs from 29 June to 14 August 2026
This is not a donation. It is an investment in a place, and in the people who call it home.
Full details of the share offer, including terms and conditions, are available in our Share Offer Document.
Every building you see here tells part of the story.
Every one of them is part of what your investment will help to create.
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