Leading UK Property Development company MRP is supporting the city’s fight against COVID-19 by supporting Bristol City Council with a rapid testing facility on a future development site in the city.
The company has provided the former home of Nisbets and Staples, on Wellington Road, as a Rapid Testing Centre for citizens. It is available to all those who need to leave home for work, including voluntary work, to get regular rapid tests (lateral flow tests) as the battle to reduce infection rates of COVID-19 across the city continues.
With around one in three people who have the virus not having symptoms, regular rapid testing aims to identify those who are highly infectious, so they can be advised to self-isolate.
MRP, who are delivering mixed-use regeneration projects in cities throughout the country, have partnered with Bristol City Council to keep the testing centre in operation until the summer, at least.
Having acquired the land in December 2019, the company’s future development plans for the site will be developed to align with and support the authority’s planned Frome Gateway masterplan to boost the city’s post-pandemic recovery.
Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Communities, said: “We are hugely grateful to MRP for providing us with our rapid testing facility in Bristol. We’re currently conducting in the region of 1,000 tests a week at the centre. These tests allow us to identify and support infectious people to isolate before they develop symptoms, helping break the chains of onward transmission.
“It has been a pleasure working closely with MRP on the temporary use of this site to support our response to COVID-19 and we look forward to building on our current partnership through future projects as part of the city’s post COVID-19 recovery plans.”
Graham Mitchell, Development Director with MRP, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with Bristol City Council to provide this site and are working closely with the team to continue to support the implementation of their testing strategy amongst the local community. We see meaningful collaboration between the private and the public sector as being key to overcoming the detrimental impact of COVID-19, and we will continue this important partnership as we take forward our redevelopment proposals for this high profile and important site, which is a gateway to the wider Frome masterplan area.
“It is schemes like this, which will enable Bristol to move promptly out of the current COVID-19 economic stagnation and quickly rebuild back to the prosperous, innovative and dynamic city for which it is so well known. MRP are genuinely excited to help and be a part of this journey.“
