WOMEN are leading the way when it comes to a new £1.2million development which is set to become the "hub" of the community.
Female entrepreneurs, including sisters Rachel Roberts and Jane Roberts, are among those preparing to move onto Y Shed - on the walkway at Meliden, near Prestatyn - which will boast a cafe, artisan unit, heritage displays, bike hire facility, meeting space and business units.
Y Shed was due to open at Easter, but Mair Edwards, Grŵp Cynefin’s Community Initiatives Manager, said the age and nature of the building has caused a delay and as a result, the planned opening date is now summer.
Sisters Rachel and Jane will be running the cafe and will be helped by Rachel’s daughter Meg
Rachel and Jane will be running Y Shed’s café and launching a menu which pays homage to the area. Dishes will be named after the mountainside and the fish caves which surround Y Shed.
Occupying the business units at the Grade II listed site will be wellbeing specialist Ffion Medi Davies Kelly, artist Susie Liddle, jewellery and craft maker Sandra Payne, and dog groomer Melanie Cawthray.
Mair said: “The idea behind Y Shed was two-fold – to support the community by bringing in visitors and to support up-and-coming business people, providing them with an affordable space to work from.
Wellbeing specialist Ffion Medi Davies Kelly
“The Welsh Government recently launched a new initiative to increase the number of women entrepreneurs, but it appears, in this corner of Wales, they are leading the field. We had a wide range of applicants and each went through a rigorous application process so those joining us have their place on merit.
"What is great is the diversity of the services on offer with each offering something very different but connected to the area.”
Melanie Cawthray and Carole Macauley - Bowwow’s Dogs Company
For new café owners, Rachel and Jane, Y Shed will be something of a departure. Rachel runs a successful children’s nursery in Rhuddlan, and Jane is a retired midwife who helps her husband Derek run his Prestatyn restaurant La Ricetta.
The sisters will be joined by Rachel’s daughter Meg, a trained barista.
Jewellery and crafts: Sandra Payne
Charitable housing association Grŵp Cynefin and Meliden Residents Action Group are behind the Y Shed project which has seen a grade II dilapidated old railway shed transformed.
Mair added: “Y Shed has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few months and we are pleased to have found great people to run the café and take on the business units.
Artist Susie Liddle
"Y Shed is a Grade II listed building so the renovation of it always had to be carefully and thoughtfully carried out. As is normal with developments of this size, and particularly given the age and nature of the building, we have had some additional work to do which has meant a delay to the planned opening date.
"Great progress has been made and the transformation is something very special so the wait will be worthwhile."
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