Felton

Gallery Forty5

Gallery Forty5 is a hub for creative businesses with a café, gallery and gift shop

Felton

Gallery Forty5

Gallery Forty5 is based in a former Victorian pub in the village of Felton, in rural Northumberland, and opened in 2013. 

It is a hub for seven creative businesses and a café, gallery and gift shop run by owners Jane Hunt and Mary Mewett. 

It is an example of a rural microcluster of creative businesses into which NICRE and the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre have published research. 

Mary Mewett Crop

Its offer:

  • The hub offers artists’ studios which have been converted from former bedrooms and outhouses.

  • They host artists working in a variety of materials including textiles, acrylics, leather, watercolour and print, as well as a wool shop and soap maker. 

  • Jane Hunt owns the property and looks after the fabric of the building, as well as providing internet and utilities for the tenants. There is some shared marketing and the hub holds regular events as a group. 

  • Rents are kept low to support emerging creative businesses. 

 

 

 

Sarah Farooqi Crop

Its key successes

  • Being within a hub brings massive advantages for the creative businesses. 

  • Each of the artists promotes their own work which brings customers into the shared space and has a knock-on effect for the other businesses. This wouldn’t happen if they were based in individual premises or at home, as many of them were before joining the hub, and it makes sense to form a cluster. 

  • Being able to see artists at work is also an attraction for the gallery’s customers and is good for business. 

  • While Gallery Forty5 has built up scores of loyal customers over the years, it also benefits from the popularity of Felton’s artisan bakery and coffee shop The Running Fox. This draws so many people who would have likely just continued on the A1, and bypassed the village completely. 

Judith Goodfellow

Owners Jane Hunt and Mary Mewett explain more:

Our key challenges

Our main challenge is to increase customer footfall as we are in such a rural location. We try to target our advertising budget to the best places but we don't get much passing trade. Also, initially the artists had different ideas as to the vision of the hub and the direction in which it should go. Through advice from the Rural Business Growth Service, and improved communication, we worked through this! 

Our future plans

We are working on making the whole business more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. We will be holding more open studio events involving all of the tenants and visiting artists and makers. We will continue to support local groups by providing a welcoming space and are setting up 'repair cafes’ on a regular basis where we encourage people to meet and repair things together. 

Our USP

We have a range of professional artists and makers who have successful businesses of their own but also support the main gallery and shop. We also offer a range of workshops and have spaces to rent to local community groups, so we feel we are a big part of the village. 

Our tenants have discounted access to the events we run in our courtyard and large event room. 

Our top tips

  • Grow slowly and stick to your vision - lots of people will offer advice, so do what you feel is right. Don't overspend in the beginning! 

  • Communication with all parties is very important as is flexibility. 

  • Be active in looking for support and outside expertise. For example, we had a very useful session with Northumbria University that helped us improve our social media use. 

Jane and Mary said:

“After 10 years, we are a thriving hub of creativity and have always been fully occupied as artists are keen to work here. Some of our tenants have been here all along too which is testament to the set-up and support we provide. We are now a firm favourite for visitors to the area and attract new customers all the time."

Contact details:

Mary Mewett

feltongallery45@gmail.com

01670 783 424 

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