INDUSTRIAL UNITS UP FOR GRABS AT CITY’S NEWEST BUSINESS PARK
Launch marks Ceramic Valley 5th anniversary Watson
ELEVEN industrial units have been unveiled as part of a new business park in the city.
The development has been constructed at St Modwen Park Stoke Central on the former Shelton Bar site in Etruria.
The units span 43,000 sq ft and are owned and managed by Stoke-onTrent City Council. They are available across two blocks and are each between 2,955 sq ft and 4,810 sq ft.
They have been officially launched following the construction of a 43,000 sq ft warehouse at the site off Shelton Boulevard.
Stoke-on-trent City Council leader Abi Brown said: “We have invested heavily in gap funding and purchasing units like this where we can be the landlord of and get occupants for.
“We feel that it is the right thing to do to support businesses, but also because we know there is demand for these types of units – particularly with work having started on the Etruria Valley Link Road just a couple of weeks ago which will, again, make this a real key location and really unleash the potential of the site.”
The opening of the new units came as part of a celebration to mark the fifth anniversary of the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone, where Stokeon-trent Lord Mayor Ross Irving unveiled a free-standing 7ft tall plaque next to the new trade park.
The Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone covers 140 hectares of brownfield land across six sites near to the A500 in Stoke-on-trent and Newcastle. Since launching in 2015:
A total of 2,017 jobs have been created or are in the pipeline across the sites;
22 businesses have moved or relocated into the area;
■ £18.85 million in GVA (the measure of the value of goods and services produced in the area) has been added into the local economy;
Two million sq ft of industrial space has been completed, is under construction, or has planning approval.
Councillor Brown said: “In 2015, we were looking at 25 years to develop out entirely, and all the sites needed significant amounts of remediation and real regeneration, some sites having been derelict for up to 40 years.
“Today we are one of the most successful Enterprise Zones in the country.”
Alun Rogers, chairman of the Stoke-on-trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “The Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone is the flagship project for the LEP. It’s critical that we continue to identify and invest in employment sites and we do that in the best way for residents, employers and for the workforce.
“As a strategic funder of major projects in the LEP area, it’s really important for us to invest in employment sites that create the right types of jobs and the right volume of jobs, and a site like St Modwen Park Stoke Central is really good for us.”
He added: “The thing about Stokeon-trent is it’s got arguably the best location in the country – you can get to anywhere from here if you’re thinking about logistics and advanced manufacturing and being able to move things around.
“There is also a talented workforce we have at scale here, which is the perfect combination for business.”