Frasers Group mega-HQ gets the green light
Plans for Frasers Group to develop a global headquarters in Ansty have been approved by Rugby Borough Council.
The retail giant, which includes Sports Direct, FLANNELS, Frasers, USC, and Everlast, lodged plans in October 2023 to relocate its headquarters from Shirebrook in Derbyshire and to condense its warehouse operation into one location.
Designed by architects Grimshaw – the firm behind the Eden Project, London’s Excel Phase II, and the Lloyds Banking Group headquarters – the 112.9-hectare site would be arranged with a “campus heart” which would include the office headquarters, concept retail research and development with a gym to test equipment and concepts in a live environment, leisure research and development, a development and learning academy with a 750-seat auditorium, a 100-room hotel, mobility hub, retail and food and beverage uses.
Group accommodation has been proposed at the northwest of the site with 80 units and a shared common room space.
Five logistics buildings and offices comprising more than 252,000 sq ft will be at the south of the site from west to east.
Frasers Group estimates that there will be 7,680 jobs on site when complete and the scheme would generate £300m in GVA for the region.
Approval was recommended by planning officers at Rugby Borough Council, as the HQ created “very special circumstances” which justified the loss of the green belt land.
Rupert Visick, a representative for Frasers Group at the planning meeting, said the location would enable the retailer to support another 750 stores, generating an additional 11,000 jobs.
The scheme did receive 191 letters of objection and complaints from several councils.
Coventry City Council has stated that the proposals fail to consider disaggregation of the proposals to reduce the proposed take-up of Green Belt land. The council says that “the applicant’s desire for a ‘campus’ style development is not a demonstration of operational need – there are multiple individual uses within the proposal that do not have to be colocated e.g. the retail, hotel or residential uses.”
The Parish Councils of Ansty, Brinklow, Combe Fields, Wolvey, Pailton, Monks Kirby, Stretton under Fosse and Shilton & Barnacle object to the proposed development, citing its inappropriate location in the Green Belt without “very special circumstances” to justify it.
They highlight the harmful visual and environmental impact of the large buildings and the overall scale of the site. Local infrastructure is deemed inadequate, with the canal bridge in Ansty unsuitable for HGVs and roads unable to handle the increased traffic, which will also worsen congestion from other developments like the Hinckley Rail Hub. They argue there is no local employment need, as the area is near full employment, and new jobs would primarily be filled by relocated staff, increasing competition for labour.
