300 jobs take a step closer in Derby

Plans have been submitted for the £6.3m office development in Derby city centre on part of a site formerly occupied by the Prince’s supermarket.

Jensco Group has lodged plans with Derby City Council for the four-storey building in Bold Lane, which will contain 34,000 sq ft of office space.

If given the go-ahead, the development, known as Six Bold Lane, could bring more than 300 jobs to the city centre.

Speaking about the Six Bold Lane project, Nigel Bobroff, director at Jensco, said: “We aim to deliver what will be an important destination building for Derby. It will be a high quality, sustainable development.

“The city council has been very proactive in the regeneration of key sites within the city centre and we are delighted to be involved in this particular project.

“In terms of its design, the building borrows some elements of the neighbouring Sadler Bridge Studios. The office space will be flexible and will be able to house a number of businesses.

“It is in a prime location, near to shops and restaurants, who should feel the economic benefits of having hundreds more people working in the city centre.”

John Forkin, mnaging director at Marketing Derby, said: “Central Derby desperately needs more good quality office space and we are delighted that Derby City Council are driving this scheme forward.”

“We first met Jensco ten years ago at a Marketing Derby Embassy event, and since then they have had an excellent track record in developing innovative city centre schemes.“

It would be constructed next to Sadler Bridge Studios business centre and the building neighbouring the development site, the current 6 Bold Lane, would be demolished.

The city council is driving the latest Bold Lane project, after identifying a shortfall in top quality office space in the city centre that is currently in demand.

Up until now, the city council has provided smaller managed workspace at seven locations across the city – including Sadler Bridge Studios – which are all managed by Connect Derby.

In February, the authority’s cabinet approved an initial £654,000 to get the Bold Lane office project under way.

The authority is borrowing most of the money for the project. It intends to recoup that cash from renting out the space, creating a building that will generate income from businesses renting space and over time become “self-sustaining”.

After the money was approved, Jensco was announced as the city council’s development partner for the Bold Lane project in August – with the brief of designing and delivering a scheme that would provide larger, Grade A office space in the city centre.

Jensco, which is a specialist private property company, has a proven track record of delivering new developments in Derby.

It is the company behind One Friar Gate Square, an office development on the corner of Agard Street and Ford Street, which is currently home to the University of Derby’s Law School.

This year, it completed the neighbouring Agard Court scheme, a 236-bed student accommodation building.

Bobroff said that once planning consent is secured he hoped that they will be able to move onto site in early 2019 and have it ready to bring to market by early 2020.