Stephen Prosser, Midlands regional director for St. Modwen, has made the following statement in support of St. Modwen’s 2014 Annual Results, which have been released to the London Stock Exchange:
“Reflecting the growth in the regional commercial property market and the upturn in the economy, our Midlands pipeline for commercial development projects is growing fast and now represents around 1.5m sq ft of space, exemplifying the strength of the Midlands’ marketplace.
“Our redevelopment of Longbridge is one of the largest regeneration projects outside of London. Here, we are making excellent progress in transforming this 468-acre former industrial site into a thriving mixed-use community. To date, we’ve invested over £300m into this important scheme, created over 3,700 jobs and welcomed over 50 new businesses to this area of Birmingham. Current development work includes the delivery of phase 2 of the Town Centre which is anchored by a 150,000 sq ft Marks & Spencer store – one of the largest in the UK.
“Elsewhere in the Midlands, construction of our Technology Retail Park in Rugby, due to complete in August 2015, is already 100 per cent let to retailers including Homebase and Pets at Home. It forms part of a broader regeneration scheme we are delivering in Rugby and has much in common with Longbridge as it exemplifies our foresight and presence of mind during the recession when we chose to prepare land for development through remediation and securing planning applications and as a result, placing us in prime position to deliver to the market when the recovery sets in.
“Answering the increasing demand for employment space, we will begin delivering five new business and industrial parks in Tamworth, Derbyshire and Staffordshire in 2015, generating thousands of new jobs for the region. Construction of six units at Great Western Business Park in Worcester will complete this spring, and more development is in the pipeline, confirming our confidence in this marketplace.
“Similarly, our residential activity continues to thrive, with hundreds of much-needed family homes being delivered by our residential business St. Modwen Homes and through our joint venture with Persimmon achieving sales rates above the national average of 0.6 per week. Our current residential developments include those in Meon Vale in Stratford-on-Avon, Longbridge, Rugby, Worcester, Swadlincote and Branston.”