The Millfields Trust are excited to finally announce that they are now the owners of The Famous Firkin Pub
in Stonehouse with the help from Plymouth City Council’s £130,000 loan from the Inclusive Economy Fund.
With the Trust being a not-for-profit Social Enterprise, PCC’s support, both through the fund and from
members of their team, has been invaluable in helping the Trust realise their dreams and aspirations for the
Stonehouse neighbourhood.
The Famous Firkin was once an important part of the fabric of the community, bringing people together and making
this corner of Stonehouse a better place to live. In recent years, the pub has been in gradual decline, both
in the number of users and the physical condition of the building. The Millfields Trust are very
excited to begin a makeover and bring the once much-loved building back to life for the Stonehouse
community.
Josanne Stewart, Chief Executive of the Millfields Trust said: ‘‘It’s so important for us as a Social
Enterprise to remain focused on the Stonehouse community. We want the pub to welcome all
sections of the community back through its doors and offer affordable and good quality healthy food
for everyone. We have lots of ideas on the type of activities we hope to run and we are already
talking to some community members on different uses for the pub.’’
‘’We know we will have challenges ahead; it was never going to be a straightforward project, but we
are ready for the hard work and we know it’s going to be worth it.’’
After the building has been made safe and secure, the Millfields Trust will be inviting local residents
to have their say on future uses and activities.
Councillor Pat Patel, Cabinet member for Customer Services, Culture, Leisure and Sport said: “One
of the areas I am responsible for is building stronger communities and it’s great to be able to help the
trust with its plans for this important listed building in the heart of Stonehouse.
“Through our Inclusive Economy Fund, we support social enterprises that want to create jobs and
bring unloved buildings back to life and this scheme hits all the right notes. This is all part of our on-
going work to build back better following the pandemic, helping to get people back into work and
revitalising underused buildings.”
Millfields Trust
The Millfields Trust was established in 1999 and is a trading Social Enterprise set up to help regenerate the
Stonehouse neighbourhood in Plymouth. Our mission is to create life changing employment opportunities
for the residents in the heart of Stonehouse and rejuvenate Union Street as a civic spine, restoring the
historic link between the City and Devonport.
We do this by providing a platform to enable SME’S to grow and develop, offering high quality affordable
business space for rental on flexible terms. Our premises are designed to support emerging, small and
medium sized enterprises across all sectors. Our business space is home to new, expanding and
established organisations including the creative sector, third sector organisations and social enterprises.