A New Purpose for the Mill: The Making of Portview
How the Belfast Development Agency transformed a former spinning mill into workspace for independent businesses, creating a new chapter for the Newtownards Road.
When Strand Spinning Mill’s industrial working life ended, its buildings presented a substantial challenge and an opportunity. Former production floors could be adapted to support smaller enterprises and provide a new source of employment in East Belfast.
The Belfast Development Agency brought together people from business, civic life and the trade union movement to explore opportunities for regeneration. Its approach focused on finding productive uses for former industrial sites and supporting economic activity. Paddy Devlin, a notable trade union organiser in Belfast and Ireland, was among those involved in the organisation’s early board.
The acquisition of Strand Spinning Mill in February 1984 gave that ambition a physical home. The buildings had been designed around the needs of a large manufacturing operation. Creating a small business centre required a different approach: dividing the space into manageable units and adapting it for a range of occupiers.
Tom Crawford established the BDA, sought the support of a new board and went on to serve as managing director for more than 25 years, alongside his family. With grant support from the Department of the Environment, former mill floors were converted into workshops and business units. Portview Trade Centre launched in 1984, opened by Chris Patten, giving independent enterprises somewhere to establish themselves within a building already closely connected to the working life of the surrounding area.
The conversion created continuity as well as change. Work remained at the heart of the site, but a collection of smaller businesses took the place of the former mill operation. The buildings could support different skills, trades and services while retaining much of their industrial character.
Over time, Portview’s community has broadened. Traditional workshops and offices have been joined by creative businesses, cultural organisations, learning activity and public events. Each new use has contributed to the continuing adaptation of the Mill.
Today, Portview operates through BDA (Property Projects) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre. Its social enterprise model reinvests income in the buildings and their future, continuing the commitment to productive use and local opportunity.
The decision to adapt the Mill in the 1980s established the foundation for that work. Portview’s next chapter builds on it: caring for the historic complex while creating space for people and organisations to develop.
