Business units fill gap in Cumbrian market

TWO £1.6m business units have been completed on the Lillyhall East Industrial Estate near Workington, Cumbria.

Construction of the factory units was funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, with £450,000 match funding from the West Cumbria Development Fund, to address the lack of medium-sized accommodation for businesses in West Cumbria.

One unit provides 10,000 sq ft of workspace and the other 7,500 sq ft on what was a vacant NWDA owned site.

There is the potential to deliver a further 6,544 sq m of industrial floor space on the Lillyhall East site and the NWDA hopes the new units it funded will encourage further private investment.

Mark Hughes, executive director of economic development at the NWDA, said: “These units offer the size of workspace previously unavailable to Cumbrian businesses which wanted to expand and remain in West Cumbria.

“New accommodation will allow these businesses to grow, and offer the kind of high quality workspace which will attract new investors to the area, which will impact positively upon the economic growth of the sub-region.

“In addition the new units will provide a high quality gateway to the site, raising its image and assisting in the marketing of the remaining development plots to the private sector.”

At the nearby Lillyhall Business Park, which also forms part of the wider Lillyhall Estate, there has been considerable recent construction activity including developments for The Nuclear Academy, the Cumberland Pencil Factory and an office development by the West Cumbria Development Agency.