Corby remains high on company shopping lists as a place to do business says commercial property agent By Ian Harman BSc MRICS, a Director at Prop-Search, as figures show a record number of businesses were formed in the town during last year. This bodes well for a bright future.
The first half of 2013 saw a new record in company registrations for the town – when compared to any previous half year – with a total of 157 new companies being established. This figure is 6.8% higher than the previous year and also compares well against the UK wide figure of 6.4%.
Corby may have had a difficult past – stemming back to the late 1970s when it suffered due to the decline of the steel industry, with over 5,000 jobs having been lost by the end of 1981 from British Steel and further cuts, which bought the total job losses to 11,000. However, the town began to recover in the 1990s when new industry was attracted to the area due to the work of private investors and its establishment by the Government as an Enterprise Zone.
Work on continuing this trend of regeneration is ongoing to this day. Public and private sectors have teamed up to deliver projects worth more than a quarter of a billion pounds. The population of the town is predicted to double to 100,000 in the next 20 years and the area has recently been listed number one in the top ten up-and-coming areas to live.
Since it opened its doors three years ago, the Corby Enterprise Centre has provided accommodation for 77 businesses from across the area, which has generated an extra £12 million for the Corby economy – in turn generating over 120 jobs. The £8.3 million Centre, which is situated adjacent to the Corby Business Academy at Priors Hall Park, was designed to provide ideal accommodation for entrepreneurs and start-ups to realise their business ambitions, as well as giving existing small businesses access to flexible office and workshop space to allow them to grow. The facility offers different sized offices and studios suitable for between two and 25 people and has achieved its ambition of becoming the focus for all small business activity in the Borough. It is currently host to 45 businesses.
Corby is set to continue to see companies grow and invest in the Borough. As well as the Prologis site at Stanion Plantation, which can create up to 2.5 million sq ft – estimated to create 2,500 office and distribution jobs – works at Priors Hall are also going to boost employment.
At the end of last year, work commenced on a key infrastructure project to further boost Corby’s regeneration. The Priors Hall West Link Road will see the construction of a new road that will support the development of over 400,000 sq ft of new commercial space at Priors Hall and bring back into use over 12 hectares of brownfield land. The road will link the development site to the main highways network, creating access to new and future development.
The owner of Corby town centre, Helical Bar, has recognised that town centres need to transform into ‘destinations’ where people can shop and be entertained, keeping in pace with the change in shopping habits. As a result, they have revealed plans to build an eight-screen cinema, complex of restaurants and gym. The proposed new £10 million scheme will cover Crown House, the old bus station, the multi-storey car parking and a section of Market Walk. It is hoped that the new cinema could be open for business in early 2015.
The people of Corby have been waiting years for a cinema. The developer, Mulberry, had previously tried to deliver a six-screen complex on George Street but was unable to finalise a deal with Odeon. However, Helical Bar has announced that a deal has been signed with the cinema operator, Vue and that they are in advanced negotiations with several restaurant operators.
Corby has an incredibly bright future ahead of it. The population is expected to double in size, thousands of new jobs will be created by the business opportunities in development and significant new housing stock becoming available.
