Business park set for expansion with £1m European investment

The Business Village in Barnsley is set to under an expansion after securing more than £1m in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

A new building at the park, situated in Wilthorpe, will be constructed to deliver room for up to 18 new businesses and add nearly 10,300 sq ft of office and work space.

Formerly known as Barnsley Business & Innovation Centre, the 6,5-acre business park is currently home to over 100 businesses with more than 500 staff between them.

Over the last two years, occupancy has risen through the support of nearly £330k of investment in modernising the four existing buildings.

Last summer saw record occupancy across both sites, and to back up the need for expanding, the Wilthorpe site has reached record occupancy in this month.

The new building was first presented in 2003 but funding challenges postponed two previous attempts to develop what will be the final phase on the Wilthorpe site. Nearly £1.1m of European grant funding has now been secured, and construction is expected to start towards the end of 2019 or early in 2020.

Adrian Waite, chief executive of The Business Village, said: “We are delighted to have secured one of the last European grants to be awarded in the UK before March 29th. The application process started in 2017, but the initial plans for the building were created in 2013 so we have been waiting a long time to bring this project to fruition.

“The grant is awarded to provide more flexible space for growing small and medium size businesses in Barnsley and is a significant contribution towards the full build cost. We would not have been able to afford the investment without this grant support, and we are also indebted to Barnsley Council for their financial assistance with the project.”