New Forest District Council opens New Ringwood Business Park

By Tom Kilkelly

27 July 2023

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Credit: New Forest District Council

The New Forest District Council has opened a new £9.5 million business park in Ringwood as part of the council's investment in the local economy.

This New Ringwood Business Park features 16 light industrial units and 2 office buildings. It is now home to several businesses including a supplier of metal finishing machinery, a social media agency, a healthcare technology company and a swimming pool company.

New Forest District Council has agreements with tenants for 64 per cent of the space.

Cllr Jeremy Heron, portfolio holder for finance and corporate at New Forest District Council, said: "This is our biggest investment and our first business park. As part of the council's investment strategy, we bought the land in Ringwood in 2019 for £2.1m. After a pause due to Covid restrictions, construction and development took around 15 months."

"We are very pleased to be able to welcome our first tenants to the business park, with a wide range of activities represented. As the park reaches full occupancy, we expect that over 150 jobs will be supported and these businesses will contribute towards strong economic benefit and growth to Ringwood and the wider district."

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On Wednesday 19 July, Cllr Neville Penman, Chairman of the Council, cut a ribbon and opened the development, which was named 'Platinum Jubilee Business Park' to honour Queen Elizabeth.

Guests were given a site tour, including seeing the inside and facilities in three units. The tour also highlighted the environmental considerations made as part of the development, which has gained a 'BREEAM very good' accreditation for sustainability.

Solar panels were incorporated into the development, providing an average of 4kW of electricity per unit and an estimated annual carbon saving of over 13 tonnes for the estate. There are electric vehicle charging provision for all units, and around 1500 heavy goods vehicle movements were also saved by re-using excavated materials onsite.

GE Machinery Limited, moved into the business park in June 2023. Nichola Nelson, Director at GE Machinery Limited, said: "We like having NFDC as a landlord as feel we'll be treated fairly. We're a newly established company in a position to open a showroom. Being New Forest residents, the location of the Platinum Jubilee Business Park is perfect for our travel time, the solar panels added onto the units are a bonus and it's great to have our own clean and tidy premises."

By Tom Kilkelly

Tom Kilkelly started working as a freelance journalist for The Business Magazine following his graduation from UCL in 2022.

During his studies Tom became very interested in the works of Irish authors including Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan).

His current role as a freelance business reporter is his first exposure to the world of business journalism. Working at TBM has given Tom the chance to really get to grips with the goings-on in the business hive that is the South East.