Training company agrees £1.5m deal for unit on St. Modwen business park
WORK on two new commercial units at St. Modwen’s Great Western Business Park in Worcester is progressing after the developer secured a £1.5m tenancy deal.
The Quinton-based group has signed up training company Herefordshire and Worcestershire Group Training Association to 15,000 sq ft of space – which represents 10,333 sq ft and 4,224 sq ft respectively.
The steel framework of the building is complete and the roof installation is in progress. The units are due for completion early next year and will create 20 new jobs, providing training for several hundred learners each year at all levels, including Higher Apprenticeships.
Jonathan Green, senior development surveyor at St. Modwen, said: “This latest deal highlights the continuing strength of the commercial landscape in Worcester and a growing need to answer the shortage of this type of development, as we face a situation where there simply isn’t the accommodation for businesses to grow.
“The fact that we applied for a variation to the existing planning permission in order to meet HWGTA’s requirements reflects (our) flexibility and ability to tailor our developments to suit occupier’s needs. We look forward to welcoming them to the development when the units complete next year.”
With £950,000 investment from the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership through the Government’s Growth Deal and £70,000 of New Homes Bonus funding from Worcester City Council, as well as match funding from HWGTA, the new centre replaces HWGTAs current operation in Sunnyside Road, Worcester and provides a state of the art facility for engineering skills development for the manufacturing, processing, finance, legal and service sectors across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Duane Sanger, chief executive at HWGTA, said: “Great Western Business Park provides the ideal location for our needs. Just a short drive to Worcester City Centre, and with key transport connections nearby, enabling our apprentices to easily access the facility – the location is perfect.
“The tailor-made buildings will enable the Association to grow its onsite training provision ensuring local companies have access to required training. The project is supported by the Worcestershire LEP and Worcester City Council, which has enabled the ambition of our board and customers to bring the project to fruition. We’re looking forward to moving in next year.”
Gary Woodman, chief executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership said: “It is great to see development on the new Centre of Vocational Excellence is now underway. This specialist facility will help to support the development of many engineering apprenticeships and I am confident that the facility will help to raise the skills of our local workforce, which is great news for business and the local economy.”
HWGTA joins a number of national and local businesses on the park including Benchmarx, Euro Car Parts, Storage King, additive manufacturers Materials Solutions, Nemesis GB, automotive parts distributor Andrew Page, and providers of precision components, Altaras International.
