Business Improvement District earmarked for Stakehill

ROCHDALE Development Agency and fund manager Aviva Investors are weighing up the prospect of introducing a Business Improvement District scheme at the 200-acre Stakehill Industrial Park in Middleton.

A feasibility study is underway to assess the prospect of introducing a BID scheme as a way of levying  increased business rates on tenants to help pay for improvements.

Stakehill Industrial Park has suffered from a number of high-profile departures over the past 12 months – most notably Tesco, which closed a 290,000 sq ft distribution centre on the site last year and relocated its operations to a depot in Widnes operated by Stobart Group. B&Q and parcel delivery firm DHL have also withdrawn operations from the park in recent years, although Bibby Distribution last month bought a 108,000 sq ft warehouse at the park.

A spokesman for Rochdale Development Agency said: “We’ve had a look at what problems there are on the estate and have started to investigate what might be feasible.

“There are quite a few vacant units, but the estate is in a fantastic location with good road access.Historically, it had been one of the prime industrial parks in Manchester,” he added.

“There’s not a lot of public sector funding available for improvements, so we need to look at ways in which we can involve the private sector.”

Joint letting agents on the park are CBRE and GVA.