Offices and café available to let at Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre, as last food production unit filled
The Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre (SFEC) in Shrewsbury is set for a bright future, with the last of its 12 food production units just leased, existing tenants reporting high growth and new contracts UK-wide, and the offices and cafe at the Centre now available to let.
The SFEC is owned by Shropshire Council and has been managed by Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF) since 2010.
Following a review of the contract with HEFF last summer, the council has opted to manage the centre in-house from the end of February 2014.
The new management arrangements will save the council a substantial amount of money and also enable it to raise additional income through leasing out the offices and café at the Centre to commercial tenants. The offices have already generated a lot of interest from local businesses looking to rent space.
Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet Member for business growth, said:
“The Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre is seen as a national example of best practice in the incubation of small food and drink companies, so it’s great news that the tenants are enjoying such success and that last remaining unit has now been taken. I now look forward to welcoming new new tenants for the café and offices and ask anyone who is interested to get in touch.
“The current contract has proved to be a very costly way of running the SFEC, but by opting to manage the Centre ourselves, Shropshire Council will save a lot of money and the management suite of offices can also be let out commercially – thus covering many of the running costs and also providing an increased income, and better value for money for the Shropshire taxpayer.
“I’d like to thank Karen Davies and HEFF for the work they have done managing the Centre. I’m pleased they’ve found a new base in Shrewsbury and wish them well in their new home.”
For information about how to rent the café or any of the 6 office units please visit http://shropshire.gov.uk/assets-and-estates.
Further information
The SFEC is one of only 10 food and drink incubators throughout the UK, it comprises 12 purpose-built production incubator units, plus offices and a café available to rent either fully managed by the desk or as whole offices.
