Amid significant investment in the town, Chippenham is starting to attract key names to north Wiltshire acting as a catalyst for business development in the region.
Whilst Aldi, Lidl and Travelodge are making their move on Chippenham, the town is also seeing heavy investment in its infrastructure. Major developments such as the multi-million pound investment in Chippenham Railway Station and the electrification of the main line, which will bring reduced journey times, increased service frequency and capacity, will help to cement the town’s place as a thriving business hub in the region.
Another significant project in the town is the Sadlers Mead car park redevelopment, which will provide renewable power firm Good Energy with a new headquarters.
The appeal of Chippenham to fledgling and established businesses goes beyond the obvious benefits. A busy high street and burgeoning housing market make it an attractive move for staff too.
Unlike other more obvious business hubs in the region such as Bristol and Bath, Chippenham is not suffering from a shortage of office space, according to Huw Thomas of property firm Huw Thomas Commercial.
He said, “There is quite a lot of availability of office space in Chippenham at the moment. Although the majority is in out-of-town locations such as Greenways, Methuen South and Sheldon Business Park, there are a limited number of town centre office buildings and suites available in the 1,000.sq.ft to 3,000.sq.ft size bracket.
“Demand at the moment is for flexible space that has accessibility to Chippenham’s mainline railway station and there are few places offering this.”
One property ticking all of the boxes for businesses looking for good connectivity and flexible space is Bewley House in the town centre.
The building, owned and managed by HPH Commercial Property, sits just a five-minute walk from Chippenham Railway Station. It is also currently going through an extensive programme of refurbishment bringing it up to modern office standards. Efficiency has also been improved with the second floor recently achieving an energy performance certificate rating B.
Bewley House features include LED energy efficient lighting, intelligent lighting in stairwells, high performance window film, electric vehicle charging points, onsite parking and a new high efficiency heating system with remote on line control and monitoring.
Lindsay Holdoway, Managing Director of HPH Commercial Property, said, “We are proud to be supporting businesses in such a vibrant town as Chippenham through our management of Bewley House.
“We are rolling out a substantial programme of refurbishment which will not only boost its green credentials but also save our occupiers money. Last year we were able to reduce the building’s carbon footprint by more than 25%.
“New features that we think will be particularly attractive to potential occupiers include electric vehicle charging points and staff showers.
“The needs of modern businesses and their staff are changing but we believe the improvements we are making to Bewley House and the new facilities we are introducing will encourage businesses to continue to do well.
“We also believe its central location in Chippenham, at the heart of what is a thriving town, next to the railway station will support a happy and productive workforce.”
International engineering, design and consultancy company, Ramboll, recently announced its move to Bewley House but there is still space available at the office block.
