Landowners, The Crown Estate, Luton Borough Council and Butterfield Land, have announced that they have selected Henry Boot Developments to complete the next phase of development at the Butterfield Business Park and build out the remaining two-thirds of the 90 acre site.
Plans to expand the business park, part developed in 2007, will provide a major boost to Luton’s economy. When complete it will offer an additional 600,000 sq. ft. of employment space and bring new jobs and millions of pounds of investment into Luton.
The current site is already home to the fully let 100 unit business and innovation centre, Basepoint Luton, as well as ‘The Village’. Together these are occupied by tenants such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, Total Oil, Fuji Sonosite, GEC, McCann Erickson and the University of Bedfordshire.
The Crown Estate is one of the nation’s largest rural landowners, including land to the east of Luton. Located to the north-east of Luton town centre the Butterfield Business Park benefits from excellent transport links and is easily accessible from the A1 to the east, the M1 to the west, Luton Airport and mainline stations to central London.
Steve Melligan, Strategic Land Manager, The Crown Estate, said:
“The next phase of Butterfield Business Park offers a huge opportunity for the Luton economy and will contribute to continued strong performance for our business. By bringing on board Henry Boot Developments combined with our asset management experience and the expertise of our other partners we have a team that can help deliver new jobs, investment and economic growth to the area.”
Henry Boot Developments, Adrian Schofield, said:
“Henry Boot Developments Limited is delighted to be selected as the preferred development partner for Butterfield Business Park. Working alongside Luton Borough Council & The Crown Estate, Henry Boot Developments will aim to create sustainable employment opportunities in Luton through the delivery of high quality business space in an attractive business park environment”.
Cllr Sian Timoney, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration Luton Borough Council, said:
“As well as quick and easy access to London, and a wider catchment of 23 million people within two hours’ travel time, Luton offers excellent transport links including an international airport plus attractive land values and commercial rental opportunities. With the Council having recently published its draft investment strategy outlining measures to support businesses and investment in skills and training, this is an excellent time to be assuring potential investors of our commitment to support growth in Luton and outlining our vision for the town to become an innovation leader in sectors including technology, aviation, health and wellbeing. We look forward to working with our new partners promoting this attractive opportunity at Butterfield Business Park.”
The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business established by Act of Parliament and pays its profit to Treasury for the benefit of the nation’s finances. It actively manages its holdings to support economic growth and the development of sustainable local communities. Its investment strategy focuses on four key sectors; London’s West End; prime regional retail; offshore wind and rural strategic land.
