Detailed plans for the development of a £100m ‘green’ business park in the shadow of the Humber Bridge at Hessle and which could create more than 3,000 new jobs have been unveiled.
The Bridgehead Business Park is the latest large-scale project to be undertaken by the Wykeland Group, of Hull, with work on the infrastructure likely to start early next year.
The park will occupy 50 acres of land stretching from the Humberfield Roundabout and Ferriby Road, Hessle, to the south, to the A164 Hessle to Beverley route and the Humber Bridge roundabout and approach road to the North East. Part of the site was previously occupied by the old Hessle Golf Club which relocated as part of the Bridge construction more than 30 years ago.
The development is being undertaken by Bridgeland Limited, a Wykeland company, in partnership with The Humber Bridge Board and Hessle Golf Course Company Limited.
By the time the site has been fully developed, approximately 612,000 sq.ft. of business space will be available for offices, research and development and high tech/clean manufacturing uses.
Wykeland’s Development Director, Stephen Hudson, described the scheme as the most significant business park development to be undertaken in the Hull and East Yorkshire region for more than a decade. It will complement the company’s very successful Melton West Business Park two miles further west along the A63 where 550,000 sq.ft. of manufacturing and warehouse space has already been developed over the last three and a half years.
He added: “Our intention is to create a ‘next generation’ and Yorkshire’s greenest business park with low density development and careful attention to the local environment, with around 40 per cent given over to landscaping which will incorporate a detailed bio-diversity strategy.
“Our recently completed 50,480 sq. ft. speculative build unit at Melton West is to be powered by its own solar PV installation and we expect the same and other natural energy resources will be widely used on buildings at Bridgehead”.
Mr Hudson said Bridgehead could eventually generate more than 3,000 permanent jobs with another 150 or more being created during the construction phase. Construction and associated contracts will be awarded to local companies where possible to continue Wykeland’s long-term policy of using local companies.
(Around 90 per cent of the 2.5m sq.ft. of development work undertaken by Wykeland over the last 10 years has been let to Humber-based contractors, with the remaining 10 per cent to Yorkshire companies).
Mr Hudson added: “We see Bridgehead as playing a key role in our region’s economy especially as a support location to the growing renewable sector in the region and will provide high quality space to enable businesses to expand and at the same time attract major new investment from out of town. Geographically, this is the main crossroads in the region and we anticipate a mixture of local and regional development with indigenous growth. We are already talking to several potential users who recognise the value of this location”.
Nick Pearce, Partner at PPH Commercial, who have been appointed main agents for Bridgehead, said: “This development will quickly establish itself as the premier business park serving the whole region and will offer the opportunity for occupiers to have a bespoke package designed around their particular business needs in a very green environment.
“The availability of new quality Grade A office space has significantly reduced in Hull and East Yorkshire in the past two years and this will provide much needed space for the region’s progressive businesses as well as helping to attract inward investment.
“The developers are also considering some speculative office buildings – a rarity in the current climate – but this shows Wykeland’s commitment to the region and a confidence in the demand Bridgehead is likely to create from companies looking to locate here”.
