Wantage: Flexible space fuels growth of Grove Business Park
Businesses and guests have celebrated the opening of refurbished serviced offices at Boston House Business Centre, Grove Business Park, near Wantage.
Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council Matthew Barber cut the ribbon on the facility, which provides flexible office space to entrepreneurial businesses in the area. The business centre is home to some 30 existing companies, employing around 90 people and provides a range of flexible workplace solutions to start-ups and large corporations.
Boston House can now support a further 35 companies across a further 120 desks in 10,000 sq ft of serviced office space available from just a single desk. A wide range of meeting and conference room facilities are available to businesses located on or off the park, capable of housing from 2-20 people.
The centre also provides secure, contemporary workspace with superfast 1gb broadband, free parking, 24/7 access and communal spaces.
David Hill, director of Grove Business Park, explained: “It was great to have councillor Matthew Barber come to cut the ribbon and show his support for our newly refurbished facility, which will assist a range of start-up and established entrepreneurs in the area. Boston House is located within the area known as Science Vale UK, so our new facility brings the technology sector face-to-face with new flexible workspace provision. We believe the creation of high quality serviced offices in the region is essential in order to keep up with the current demand, which is why the launch of Boston House is not only extremely exciting, but highly relevant.”
The seismic change in working practices over the past decade and the ever thriving start-up market is fuelling demand for flexible office accommodation in the area. According to figures released by StartUp Britain, the campaign group for entrepreneurs, there were 719 new companies created in the Vale of White Horse alone compared with 983 in Oxford in 2016 and 2017 is expected to be another record-breaking year.
Richard Lyall, project director for Grove Business Park, said: “The flourishing start-up market recognises the importance of spaces like Boston House, that work to achieve a relaxing yet inspiring ambience which is necessary in attracting the young top talent. We are delighted with the end result and to be delivering 250 serviced work spaces to the Oxfordshire flexible office market. We look forward to welcoming many more businesses to the park.”
As the flexible office sector has grown, so too has its reputation as a sustainable workplace model for all sizes of business, including large corporations. The attraction for larger businesses is that these facilities offer flexible licence arrangements which allow for growth and contraction and also benefit from fixed all-inclusive packages to contain costs.
As well as easy access to amenities in Wantage, the park incorporates a private member’s health club which attracts 450 members each day. In order to achieve a real communal feel, owner LFD Group also plans to bring in a café operator as well as a nursery for the benefit of occupiers.
