Bucks Local Enterprise Partnership highlights enterprise zones development

Published by

Nicky Godding

Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Bucks LEP) has launched a new website, which aims to provide latest information on key developments across Buckinghamshire’s Enterprise Zones.

Since 2016, the Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone has provided an enormous boost to help Buckinghamshire grow its existing businesses, and attract and accelerate new investment in key business sectors at Bucks LEP’s three strategically important Enterprise Zone sites.

Anthony Sowden, Director, Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone, said: “The scale and special nature of the development, the mix of uses and the highly strategic position, at the heart of the ‘Oxford to Cambridge Arc’ enables the Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone sites to compete nationally and internationally as major employment locations. The aim of this new website is to showcase the latest development activities across these three sites and highlight the benefits for businesses locating to Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone.”

Four years on, the sites at Silverstone Park, Westcott Park and at Aylesbury Woodlands are driving forward the Buckinghamshire economy in the sectors of high-performance engineering, space technology and life sciences – all critical to the national economy and just as importantly securing business rate returns to be reinvested into the local economy.

Since Enterprise Zone status was granted to these three sites in 2016, there has been major growth and investment, resulting in: 44,370 m2 of floorspace completed; 25,190 m2 of floorspace under construction; 32 new businesses established; over 300 jobs created; more than £50m private sector investment; and £11.5m project funding committed to support the growth of Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone.

Silverstone Park Technology Cluster, aims to provide a global destination for innovation, business development and engineering. Properties can be found to suit high-tech engineering companies of all sizes, with industrial units and workshops located opposite the Silverstone Formula 1 circuit. Its one of a kind Metrology facility provides access to technology along with Silverstone Park’s Metrology Network.

Silverstone:

Phase 1 development 11,665m2 floorspace completed and 100% occupied (12 companies) by January 2019;
Phase 2 Development 23,990m2 floorspace under construction - completion due Q3 2020/21;
Phase 3 Development 24,632m2 floorspace - detailed planning application submitted April 2020;
Unit 1129 (Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub) supported by £2m LGF - opened February 2019;
EZ Multi Utility Infrastructure Project - £5m funding support from AVEZ - completed January 2020 - providing utilities to enable Ph 2 / Ph 3 & future Silverstone EZ Phases.

Westcott Park is home to more than 80 companies. It also has a history steeped in rocketry propulsion engineering, both for missiles, launchers and satellites and it continues to grow as a development and testing zone for some of the world’s most exciting aerospace and propulsion technology pioneers.

At heart of Bucks LEP’s Local Industrial Strategy is the long-term investment plan for Westcott Space Cluster to develop new research and development facilities and a base manufacturing excellence in space propulsion and in-orbit maintenance, and to address skills shortages for technicians and propulsion test specialists. The UK Space Agency has invested £4.12 million in Westcott Venture Park to develop the National Space Propulsion Test Facility, as part of a joint strategy that sets out how the cluster will get to the next level, addressing skills shortages for technicians and propulsion test specialists.

Westcott:

1,700m2 Offices / production facility for Reaction Engines SABRE engine -completed 2019 - SABRE test facility under construction and due to be operational in 2021;
5G Step out Centre (£0.6m LGF) and Business Incubation Centre (£0.5m ERDF) completed 2018 - supporting 15+ start-up businesses;
Westcott Site Access Improvements including new A41 roundabout (£1.7m EZ funding support) under construction - completion Q3 2020/21;
1,200m2 Innovation Centre under construction by Satellite Applications Catapult (£3.2m LGF / EZ Funding) - completion due Q3 2020/21;
National Space Propulsion Test Facility (£4m UKSA funding) - Planning application submitted April 2020 - completion by Q 4 20/21.

A project still in its infancy, Aylesbury Woodlands aims to provide jobs through developing employment land for a offices, industrial and commercial uses supported by retail, leisure facilities and housing set in an extensive green environment.

Woodlands:

Green Energy Plant (6,500m2 floorspace) completed by Olleco Ltd (November 2017);
Ph 1 Symmetry Park (23,100m2 floorspace) 3 Units completed Q4 2019/20 - unit 1 occupied by Global Infusions in 2019 / planning application for film production facility submitted for unit 3 in Feb 20;
Ph 2 Symmetry Park - detailed planning consent for up to 34,930m2 floorspace;
Woodlands - Resolution to grant Outline Planning Consent (October 2017) for 102,400m2 employment floorspace in EZ and 1,00 homes - planning consent anticipated Q3 20/21.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.