Work starts to extend Shrewsbury Business Park
A £1.5m project to extend Shrewsbury Business Park, helping to create more than 600 jobs, is to start next week (week beginning Monday 11 November 2013).
The work will open up the remaining 6.29 acres of the business park, with the capacity to accommodate 150,000 square feet of office floor space, and a 10,000 square feet local centre with shops to serve the business park and neighbouring residents.
It will also create a new access road from Wenlock Road to an extended Anchorage Avenue and open up the western end of the site adjacent to Weeping Cross roundabout, which is a high profile location visible from the A5 bypass.
The project is funded by a £1.5m investment by Shropshire Council, which has awarded the contract for the work to contractors Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd, following a competitive tendering process.
Work is expected to be completed by spring 2014.
Planning permission has already been granted to developer Alaska to develop 150,000 square feet of office space once the infrastructure work is complete – helping to generate over £13m of private sector investment and create more than 600 jobs.
As the office construction will be visible from the A5 bypass, it is hoped this will act as a stimulus to further investment.
Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for business growth, said:
“I’m really pleased that work is set to start on the extension of Shrewsbury Business Park, and that Shropshire Council’s investment has made this possible. Investing £1.5m in this work is a great vote of confidence by the council in the development of Shrewsbury Business Park, and the future economic development of Shrewsbury and Shropshire. It will help to attract millions of pounds of investment to the area and create hundreds of jobs, and will also provide a real boost to the local area.”
Martyn Evans, Managing Executive Director of Alun Griffiths said:
“We are delighted that we have been awarded this important contract and we look forward to continuing our long track record of working collaboratively with Shropshire Council to deliver a successful project.”
Previous private sector investment in Shrewsbury Business Park has totalled over £53m and generated around 1,150 jobs since it was developed in the mid-1980s. The most recent investment of £1.2m in 2007 facilitated over 50,000 square feet of development and £10m of private sector investment, and generated about 450 jobs.
The design work and tender appraisal for the business park expansion work was carried out by Shropshire Council’s engineering consultants, Mouchel, who will liaise with Alun Griffiths on behalf of the council.
A sod cutting ceremony is set to be held at the site at 2pm on Tuesday 12 November 2013.
