The Custard Factory, Birmingham’s revolutionary new arts and media quarter, is 800 paces from the Bull Ring. This 5-acre sprawl of riverside factories was built 100 years ago by Sir Alfred Bird, the inventor of custard. At one time he had a thousand people making the stuff. Some even say it helped create the British Empire. But by the early 1980s it had long since lost its mysterious appeal and the factories fell derelict.

We took it over in 1990. We began to restore the buildings and announced open house (and studio) to the best of Birmingham’s young creative talent. The rush to come in was overwhelming. Since then a whole new inner city neighborhood has begun to emerge – intricate, fine grained and threaded by green spaces, fountains and sculpture.

The award-winning first phase is now home to a dynamic community of 500 artists and small creative enterprises,  affordable studios and offices are complemented by a theatre, café, antique shops, meeting rooms, dance studios, holistic therapy rooms, art galleries, bars and nightclubs. The second phase has seen the Custard Factory continue to grow, with Zellig adding 101 new offices, studios and galleries to the quarter. Our community becomes more diverse every day, from fine dining restaurants to skate board ramps, creating a dynamic, almost tribal community.