WIGLEY GROUP SNAPS UP WAREHOUSE

Between M40 Junctions 11 And 12

The Wigley Group has agreed a deal to acquire a prime 40,000 sq ft warehouse in Southam, Warwickshire.

The modern high-bay building in Northfield Road, complete with offices, is now available for lease from regionallysized logistics and distribution operators.

The property boasts a 2,000 sq ft mezzanine, two self-contained internal office blocks, goods yard and on-site parking with 46 spaces.

James Davies, Managing Director of The Wigley Group, said: “There is a recognised high demand with low supply of available buildings of this type and we are anticipating considerable interest.”

The leasehold is being jointly marketed by Bromwich Hardy and Wareing & Company.

Tom Bromwich, partner at Bromwich Hardy, said: “The Wigley Group has made an astute acquisition off market, capitalising on the lack of empty commercial stock.”

Fortis moves to Worcester and puts former Malvern headquarters up for sale

Housing association Fortis Living is selling its former site in Malvern following a move to new headquarters in Worcester city centre.

Property consultancy Harris Lamb, which oversaw the planning and build processes for the new offices in Midland Road, is the sole agent for Festival House, a 21,200 sq ft self-contained office purpose-built for the housing association in 1999.

Director Neil Harris said:

“Opportunities of this calibre are rare. Not only is it the only building of its size available in the county, but it’s also a modern, well-appointed freehold building with expansion potential, excellent facilities, extensive parking and convenient access to the motorway via junction 7 of the M5.”

Fortis Living merged with Waterloo Housing Group in October 2018 to form the Platform Housing Group.

Neil added: “With freehold purchase opportunities being so scarce, and with Festival House having such a great specification and position, this is a superb opportunity for businesses looking for swift occupation of a prominent, modern property in a prime UK location.”

Westcott announces plans for new Innovation Centre

A new Innovation Centre is to be built at Westcott Venture Park, a 650acre business park between Bicester and Aylesbury.

The Westcott Innovation Centre will be located at the heart of the park’s newly-formed Space Cluster and will complement the park’s business incubation centre, which is managed by the Satellite Applications Catapult.

These centres provide business space and support for companies working in 5G, rocket propulsion and autonomous vehicles. The Westcott Innovation Centre is being funded by the Satellite Applications Catapult and the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

The Satellite Applications Catapult has signed an agreement to lease with owners PATRIZIA Hanover Property Unit Trust, subject to planning permission. If planning consent is granted a 12,000 sq ft office and engineering training facility will be developed and let to The Satellite Applications Catapult on a 15-year lease.

Westcott Venture Park is recognised globally as an integral part of the UK Space sector growth strategy with a nucleus of well established companies supporting rocket and satellite enabled research and development projects.

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc stretches from Oxfordshire to Cambridgeshire, home to 3.7 million people and over two million jobs.

Centres of innovation

The Arc is already home to some of the UK’s most innovative and productive cities. Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes have consistently been ranked among the fastest growing economies in the country in recent years.

However, the Arc’s economy is constrained by poor east-west transport connectivity. At present, this prevents it from functioning as a single economic region.

The knowledge economy

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has identified the future success of the Arc as a national priority. It argues that a joined-up plan is needed for new jobs, homes and infrastructure.

This would help the region to exploit the economic benefits of its world-renowned education and research facilities. The region boasts two of the top-ranked universities globally in Oxford and Cambridge, as well as internationally recognised research centres such as Harwell and Culham in the ‘Science Vale’ of South Oxfordshire.

The focus on knowledge-based sectors is reflected in industry clusters across the region. These include technology and biosciences in Cambridge; high performance technology and financial services in Milton Keynes; motorsport and high performance engineering in Northamptonshire; and high-tech engineering and biosciences in Oxford and the Science Vale.

New homes, new workplaces

The NIC suggests that up to one million new homes will be needed across the Arc by 2050. This ambition will require significant investment in new infrastructure, as well as commercial property development to support new jobs.

Cambridge Econometrics has modelled a scenario in which close to 950,000 new jobs could be created in the Arc by 2050. To support this level of jobs growth, the