Inward Investment: Business benefits

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So, how easy would it be to find the appropriate premises for your operation in the South West of England, whether you need a small office or a major development site? With a wealth of quality serviced and brownfield sites in both central urban areas and on the outskirts of some of the region's main towns and cities, South West England has a wealth of business property opportunities to offer - whatever your needs.
For more information about RDA owned business property in the South West, visit the commercial property search engine: http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/property/property.asp

Workspace, Innovation Centres and Science parks in South West England

The South West RDA has evolved a consistent approach to its investment in workspace and Innovation Centre projects, categorising projects according to the degree of intervention within client businesses:

a. Workspace/Business Parks purely focus on providing property. The Agency is looking to develop overt linkages with and/or on-site support from external business advisors and become "Workspace Plus".

b. Innovation Centres or Incubators have an explicit objective to grow businesses. The key is dynamic staff actively assisting clients to survive and thrive. With good local, regional and national networks, they are hubs for innovation and enterprise, combining high level, flexible, integrated support with a physical home for the majority of their clients.

c. Science Parks have an explicit economic development objective to develop a substantial cluster of knowledge based businesses, usually linked to a University, public or private research institute, normally including a substantial incubation component but on a much larger scale.

Enterprise Pavillion (eP), Bournemouth. eP is a new Innovation centre for the creative industries, developed and managed by the Arts Institute at Bournemouth. Its aim is to increase graduate retention and support the growth of creative businesses in the area. It offers affordable and flexible high quality office/studio accommodation on an easy-in, easy-out basis. eP also provides conference and exhibition facilities for companies, and others, with links to the creative industries.

Science Park (SPark), Bristol. This £300 million Science Park for Bristol and Bath: will occupy 40 hectares and provide 150,000 squared meters of floor space, employing over 6,000 people. One of the first developments will be the innovation centre, uniting the 3 world class universities of Bristol, Bath and the University of the West of England and provide a close working environment with leading SW industry.

Innovation Centres and Science Parks

HEI Centres offering specific support to business

Arts Institute at Bournemouth
- Enterprise Pavilion

Bath Spa University College
- Centre of Expertise in Digital & Interactive Audio
- Wessex & Wiltshire New Technology Institute

Dartington College of Arts
- ArtsMatrix
- Creative Skills Consortium, Cornwall

Falmouth University College
- Centre for Creative Enterprise & Participation

University of Bath
- interACTIVE
- Carpenter House, Set-Squared Centre in Bath
- Oakfield Incubator,Set-Squared Centre in Swindon

Bournemouth University
- s2b
- Bournemouth University Innovation Centre

University of Bristol
- (SET Squared) Centres

University of Exeter
- Exeter Advanced Technologies (X - AT)
- University of Exeter Innovation Centre
- Centre for Energy & The Environment
- EMC Centre

University of Gloucestershire
- Gloucestershire University Centre

University of Plymouth
- Polymer Research Centre
- The Centre for Climate Change Impact Forecasting (C-CLIF)
- Advanced Composite Manufacturing Centre
- Formation Zone Innovation Centre - Digital Media

UWE
- eMedia Incubator
- UWE Innovate

Mixed use and town centre sites
Osprey Quay, Portland. Osprey Quay forms the gateway to the Isle of Portland. The 33 hectare waterfront site has been named 'Osprey Quay' reflecting its origins as HMS Osprey, the Royal Naval Station, Portland as well as the proximity to Portland Harbour and the nearby World Heritage designated coastline. It will provide up to 50,000 sq. metres (535,000 sq. feet) of development plus a marina in an attractive landscaped setting, including high quality, comprehensive site services and infrastructure. There are a range of amenities planned including a hotel, nursery/crèche, shops, cafes/restaurants and a network of public and private transport links. A range of occupiers are already on site and further sites are being progressively released for development, guided by a master plan to ensure a high quality mixed use destination. The master plan focuses on the marine sector, with the site already being home to a 'World Class' Sailing Academy which has been selected as the site for the sailing events in the 'London 2012' Olympics.

Rural sites
Brunel Business Park, St Austell. This high quality office scheme adjacent to the Urban Village development on Carlyon Road in St Austell will provide 2,000 sq metres of B1 office space on a leasehold basis and support an estimated 100 jobs when completed in November 2006. The scheme features a range of environmental enhancements, including low energy lighting, a rainwater harvesting system and recycling facilities. It will also have both an earth energy system and traditional gas fired heating, with the intention of installing one system of each type in similar buildings and then comparing the anticipated efficiency and actual efficiency through measurement in use. This data will then be shared with partners and used to inform the design and construction of other projects in the region.

This very high quality scheme is aimed at companies in the ICT and cultural industries sectors and has achieved an 'excellent' rating under the BREEAM environmental assessment award scheme, scoring 9 out of a maximum 10 at the design stage.

Helston Business Park, Helston. Work has started on this new development site on the outskirts of Helston to put in place new roads and service infrastructure to prepare the site for the development of a range of high quality business units. The site has been identified as important for the future development of Helston and the Lizard peninsula and will enable developers to bring forward proposals for the creation of employment space on the site aimed at businesses looking to locate in the area or to expand.

St Columb Major Business Park, St Columb Major. More than 170 jobs are set to be created on this 17-acre business park with the start of work on a major extension to the Borders (UK) distribution centre and five brand new factory units. Borders, which sells books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and Paperchase stationery through a network of stores nationwide, is doubling the size of its operation at St Columb and creating around 100 new jobs over the next five years. A further 70 jobs are expected to be created on-site once the five new factory units are occupied. Completion is due in autumn 2006.

Beacon Technology Park, Bodmin. Roads and service infrastructure work to create five development plots on this17-acre site former hospital site in Bodmin is to be completed in autumn 2006. The £4.3 million project includes £2.94 million from
the South West RDA, £1.26 million from Objective One and £100,000 from North Cornwall District Council. It is hoped the first development plot will be occupied by summer 2007. Once fully developed, the site will support an estimated 800 high quality jobs.

Trevol Business Park, Torpoint. Work is under way on a project to provide road and service infrastructure and 15,000 sq m of high quality factory accommodation on a leasehold basis as part of the first phase of development of the former Trevol Industrial Estate in South East Cornwall. Jointly funded by the South West RDA and the Objective One programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the project will provide much-needed workspace for the area.

Indian Queens Industrial Estate, Cornwall. Indian Queens is a key site situated at the junction of the main A30 trunk road and A39. The 10.93 hectare (27 acre) development site offers a strategic location in the centre of Cornwall and has outline planning consent for B1, B2 and B8 uses. Newquay airport is 5 miles away.
Existing occupiers at Indian Queens include Crantock Bakery, Quincy Eyewear and Wing of St Mawes.

Former Cattle market Site, Longrock, Penzance. This former cattle market site at Longrock, Penzance will provide fully serviced plots for industrial use with good access to the main A30 trunk road. Following completion, plots will be developed within a specified timescale to provide speculative or bespoke factory accommodation, utilising the highest standard of design and construction with particular regard to sustainability. End users will be required to be within one of the Agency's Priority Sectors.

Phase 3, Treleigh Industrial Estate, Redruth. Treleigh Industrial Estate is located on the northern outskirts of Redruth adjacent to the established Cardrew Industrial Estate. The estate has direct access to the main A30 trunk road. Phase 3 at Treleigh comprises a newly developed extension to the well established first phase at Treleigh and provides 9 fully serviced industrial plots totaling 5.26 hectares (13 acres). The majority of plots have now been sold or are under offer.