A former industrial building in Hanley could be transformed into a sumptuous wedding venue with an outdoor water feature and barbecue hub.

The site, located at the north end of Festival Park, was previously a foundry with warehouses and offices used by Taylormade Casting.

Wedding operator Excellency Midlands is now planning to turn the buildings into a celebration venue for couples, families and guests from a wide range of cultures. A change of use application for the former industrial site has been submitted to Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

The proposals include reusing existing outbuildings to create a barbecue hub and undercover parking, while landscaping of the grounds would include a water feature. If the plans are approved by the council the venue could create 18 full time and 32 part time jobs.

A design and access statement submitted as part of the application said: "Excellency pride themselves on being the most inclusive wedding operator in the country with the staff speaking several languages and the chefs delivering a whole host of different authentic cuisines. Just some of the languages spoken are Ghana, Hindi, French, Polish, Spanish, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Punjabi, Potwari, Swedish, Turkish and Norwegian.

The site is located to the north of Festival Park, off Pavilion Drive (Google).

"Excellency create something different to most wedding operators, providing an urban city location often surrounded by commercial development. It is not always where people expect a wedding venue to be or to function.

"This is a tried and tested business model and instead of relying on beautiful surrounding scenery they rely upon the fancy externals of their buildings and stunning internals. The internal of Excellency Midlands Telford is fantastic, with marble clad floors, walls and columns, where the visitors would never know that they are in the centre of an industrial estate.

"The proposal seeks to utilise the existing hard surfacing to create a large amount of parking so that no visitors have to rely on public parking or parking on other car parks in the near vicinity. The proposal also utilises spaces for coaches as with Excellency's other sites; Excellency offer a complimentary coach service for all wedding guests, and these are always used."

"The proposal will transform the look of the site with a new water fountain and green space as well as additional planting around all boundaries to really encapsulate the wedding venue in a green serenity. The main building will be clad in a mirrored effect material which will portray a beautiful and high-quality building in this city centre location.

"The buildings will be converted to an extent where they will be unrecognisable. The current run down and tired look that they currently present on this redundant site will be entirely rejuvenated."

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