A delegation from Heathrow Airport has visited the pioneering Yorkshire business park Sherburn2 to launch a nationwide tour of 65 sites in the running to be the offsite construction centres for Heathrow’s expansion.
The airport’s Logistics Hubs will help ensure that businesses across the UK can form part of the airport’s supply chain, enabling Heathrow’s new runway to deliver a legacy of construction excellence across the UK.
The Heathrow chairman Lord Deighton led the delegation’s visit to Sherburn2, the brand-new £105 million 75-acre Yorkshire business park at Junction 42 of the A1(M) at Sherburn-in-Elmet, near Selby.
Jeremy Nolan, managing director of Glentrool Estates, who own Sherburn2, commented: “We are proud and privileged to help launch Heathrow’s nationwide tour and we are delighted to welcome the delegation, including Lord Deighton, to our business park.
“Sherburn2 represents the perfect location for one of Heathrow’s Logistics Hubs. The site offers quick access to essential routes across the UK, with Yorkshire’s excellent motorway network only minutes away and a skilled available works force.
“Crucially, it will take Heathrow personnel just 50 minutes to get to Sherburn2, as we have the Sherburn Aero Club on our doorstep. At the same time, the rail freight terminal at Gascoigne Wood, adjacent to our site, means freight from Heathrow to Sherburn2 will take just five hours.
“This superb combination of road, rail and air connectivity makes Sherburn2 a tremendously strong contender to host a Heathrow Logistics Hub.
“Sherburn2 is one of the most significant new employment sites in the Yorkshire region, both in terms of the jobs it will create and the inward investment it will attract.
“There is no doubt a decision by Heathrow to locate a Logistics Hub here would provide a tremendous boost to the regional Selby economy, creating sustainable jobs in the local area. It would also be a welcome link between the north and the south and underpin the growing importance of the Northern Powerhouse
“Sherburn2 provides a great opportunity for occupiers to benefit from a labour pool with impeccable logistics connections. This visit underlines what a strategically important site for the region Sherburn2 is.
“We are looking forward to welcoming a new generation of businesses to our bespoke, high-quality 21st century buildings – and it would be wonderful if Heathrow Airport could be one of those occupiers.”
The Leader of Selby District Council, Cllr Mark Crane, said, “We’re not surprised that Sherburn2 has been identified as a potential site to support a regional hub for Heathrow. It’s got great transport connections and with our affordable business space it means companies in this area get more for their money compared to other parts of the region.
“Sherburn2 is just one of five big development sites in the Selby district that we’ve been supporting because of their potential to bring new investment, jobs and opportunities. We’re the fastest growing part of North Yorkshire and that’s because of our position right at the heart of the region.
“As a council we’ve been working closely with Glentrool – the developers of Sherburn2 – to make the most of what this site has to offer, because of its importance not just to our district but to the whole of Yorkshire too.”
