A £1.2MILLION business centre expected to create 80 jobs on the site of a former supermarket should open next month.

The Pendle Innovation Centre will transform Nelson's former Kwik Save building into a state-of-the-art complex with space for 16 small businesses.

Work on the centre, in Brook Street, began last October after the supermarket building was bought with £600,000 of European money from Pendle Partnership.

A further grant of £295,000 to refurbish the building and £305,000 of European Regional Development Fund cash was provided through the East Lancashire Partnership. The project aims to stimulate the local economy and provide more space for small businesses to grow.

The complex will include resources for technology and support for new businesses using state-of-the-art equipment.

There are currently 10 small businesses on a waiting list for similar premises nearby so planners hope spaces will be filled quickly.

Around 80 jobs are expected to be created by the end of 2005.

The single-storey centre, which will have a link to the Northern Technologies building, is almost complete. It will have modern offices with a reception area and car park

Northern Technologies will manage the 1,014 sq metre centre and have provided £25,000 toward the cost of the project.

Tenants will be able to make use of the Northern Technologies restaurant, conference rooms, lecture theatre and exhibition hall.

Pendle Partnership chairman Dennis Mendoros said: "This type of development is vital if Pendle is to attract, retain and foster high-tech, high-skill business start-ups, which is one of Pendle Partnership's key objectives."