Construction of the first units at a new £120 million business park in Worcester will begin soon, leading commercial property developers Stoford and Liberty Property Trust has announced.
The development partners have appointed Worcestershire-based Benniman Construction Group as contractors to build the first two units on the 90-acre site.
The park, just off junction 6 of the M5, will provide up to 1.5 million sq ft of accommodation in a range of high quality business units. They have been designed for a variety of employment uses to include technology, manufacturing, industrial and warehousing.
Liberty Property Trust and Stoford were granted detailed planning permission by Wychavon District Council in July for units of 160,000 sq ft and 45,000 sq ft, the first to be built at Worcester Six.
Worcester County Council expects the wider £120 million park to create around 5,000 jobs once the whole development is complete and give Worcestershire’s economy a major boost. Worcester Six is also one of four game changer sites identified in the county’s Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) – key employment sites seen as important in driving the county’s economic future prosperity.
Work on the £10 million infrastructure package for the park is making good progress with the upgrade to Pershore Lane now complete. These works were funded by the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership through the Government’s Growth Deal to improve traffic flow to junction 6 of the M5 motorway as well as provide access to Worcester Six.
Utilities for the site, including gas, electricity and water have been installed by civil engineering and building firm McPhillips, which tunneled under the M5 to connect the site to services.
Stoford director, Gerard Ludlow, said: “With the appointment of Benniman as construction partner, Worcester Six is on track to start construction this month, completing in Q2 2017. As the first large-scale development in Worcester for more than 10 years, we’re seeing plenty of interest in the park and are confident our speculative developments won’t be on the market for long.”
Andrew Blevins, managing director of Liberty Property Trust’s UK operations, said: “It is good to have the prospect of new, quality product developed to a high standard, available to the market soon.”
Steven Smith, managing director at Benniman, said: “We are proud to be associated with this prestigious scheme within the local area and look forward to working with Stoford and Liberty to deliver the initial phase of the development project.”
Cllr Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council Cabinet Member for Economy, Skills & Infrastructure, said: “The construction of Worcester Six is essential to enabling the county to achieve its economic growth ambitions.”
Gary Woodman, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “It is great to see that construction is about to begin on Worcester Six. The business park will have a hugely positive impact on the local economy with the creation of five thousand high-quality jobs and the provision of well-connected space for business expansion and investment.”
