1

A nyone travelling eastwards along the Straight Mile past

Coldnose Road will have noticed a lot of building work going on. We were very pleased to welcome the Beck Products Ltd to the Enterprise Zone last year. Their building, showcasing the Zone’s green colour palette, was constructed by local builders Leomin-ster Construction.

HEREFORD ENTERPRISE

ZONE ROTHERWAS NEWS

In this Issue Page 1

First investors on site

Contact the team

EZ progress

Page 2

High quality units being built

Hursey family honoured in road

naming

Page 3

Heritage Project continues

Clearance works along Straight

Mile

EZ website and Twitter

Broadband comes to Skylon Park

Page 4

Development plots available

Benefits

Target sectors

Other funding available to SMEs

First investors on site

A lso recently completed is the new

regional centre for Western Power

Distribution. The building, which fea-

tures low carbon design and energy

efficient materials, will offer engineering

facilities, office space and storage for

the company as well as significant ap-

prenticeship opportunities for young

people in the area. Staff will be moving

in shortly.

B eing built adjacent to that site is

the new facility for Marches

Global. The company, which manufac-

tures packers and shimming products

for the construction industry, are going

straight in with Phases 1 and 2 of their

building programme due to a substan-

tial increase to their order book. Build-

ing work, being done by Collins Design

& Build, should be completed within

the next couple of months.

EZ progress: 6 plots totalling 11.2 acres sold and under development

114,000 sq ft of workspace is built or under construction or

refurbishment

Minimum of 463 jobs involved in these investments

9 more plots under offer or negotiation (the 15 plots equate to

40% of the land currently available for development)

Skylon Court project started in December. Active interest be-

ing followed up in 9 of the 10 units provided

Contact the team at:

Enterprise Zone Office

Rural Enterprise Centre

Vincent Carey Road

Rotherwas

Hereford

HR2 6FE

T: 01432 383616

M: 07792 880054

E: info@skylonpark.co.uk

W: www.skylonpark.co.uk

February 2015 edition

2

W ork started in December on the site on the corner of Coldnose Road, next to the new Beck Products Ltd and Marches

Global buildings. Over £650k has been secured from the European Regional Development Fund, and matched by Here-

fordshire Council, to assist in the building of 10 high quality speculative office/workshop units. Local trades were invited to a

Meet the Buyer event on 3 December to find out how to bid for work packages for this and future construction contracts for

the Enterprise Zone.

The units, which will help to address the need for rented space on the Zone for new and growing businesses in the target sec-

tors, will be built to BREEAM Excellent Standard, the highest level of sustainability and environmental credentials achievable.

They will offer flexible business space in a high profile location and importantly for small enterprises, the development offers

incentives to encourage business growth and sustainable job creation. Key features of the units include low energy and run-

ning costs, ‘easy-in, easy-out’ all inclusive licence terms, high speed broadband and good car and van parking ratios and provi-

High quality units being built

sion for cyclists. The ground

floor units have wide double

height access doors and the

development offers self-

contained serviced accommo-

dation. Each self-contained

office unit will have its own

front door, with internet and

telecommunications facilities

wired throughout on a ‘plug

and play’ basis as well as gener-

ous public and reception areas.

To find out more contact Tim

Reed, Turner & Co on 01432

276202 timreed@turnerandco.

co.uk

Hursey family honoured in road naming

T he road on the South Maga-

zine area of the Enterprise

Zone has been named Hursey

Road to honour Ernest Hursey

and his family who lost their

lives during World War II. Ken

Hursey, who was 15 at the time,

was the son of the Munitions

Police Superintendent , and the

sole surviving member of the

family when 250kg of high ex-

plosives was dropped on the

former munitions site by a lone

German bomber on 27 July

1942. 17 munitions workers

also lost their lives. Ken official-

ly opened the new road on 27

November 2014. In memoriam of Ken Hursey (above centre) who passed away in February 2015

3

Heritage Project continues

T he team behind a bid to transform part of the site of Hereford's former munitions factory into a heritage park are con-

tinuing to explore options to preserve the history of the site and the building for future generations. It is likely that

some aspects of the original proposals will

need to be changed to meet the requirements

of the available funding streams.

Proposals are already being developed for the

submission of an application to the Heritage

Lottery Fund’s ‘Our Heritage’ grant scheme.

This bid would cover a programme of heritage

activity and education about the Royal Ord-

nance Munitions Factory, with particular em-

phasis on the women workers. Working with

the Council’s Grants and Funding Team and

with local interest groups and expertise, with

the new Herefordshire Archive and Record

Centre as a point of delivery, the aim would

be to tie in with the WWI commemoration

period.

EZ website and Twitter

V isit our new website www.skylonpark.co.uk to find

out more about the Enterprise Zone. Intended pri-

marily as a tool for inward investors, the site provides infor-

mation on the key sectors we are targeting, land and units

available, what the Park could eventually look like, available

support , living and working in Herefordshire etc. Minutes

of the EZ Executive Board meetings are also on the site, so

you can find out about recent discussions. You can also

follow us on Twitter at @HerefordEZ

E arly last year, Superfast Broadband arrived at Rotherwas. Recognised as

being essential to the social and economic viability of all communities,

there had long been a desperate need for adequate broadband among the

existing businesses on Rotherwas. It was also considered essential for the

Zone’s pursuit of ambitious SMEs on Skylon Park. For many businesses, the

cost of providing a connection between the BT exchange and their site was

not considered commercially viable.

Thanks to the Fastershire project, all 4 BT cabinets have now been enabled.

However, this still won’t meet all existing and future requirements, some busi-

nesses needing ultrafast broadband which offers upload capacity matching

download capability. Rising to this challenge, the Enterprise Zone is providing

an open access duct infrastructure throughout the Estate. The first phase,

connecting South Magazine to the Straight Mile through the existing estate)

has been completed and plans are now being made for the next stage.

Broadband comes to Skylon Park

Clearance along the Straight Mile

T owards the end of November a team of gardeners

were busy on a landscape improvement scheme

along the Straight Mile between the roundabout by the

garage and the JCB Gunn premises. Some trees have been

removed and vegetation cleared, leaving an informal open

avenue of trees. This work is the first phase a number of

landscaping schemes being arranged by the Zone in order

to improve the overall appearance of the Estate.

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G rowthAccelerator offers support to businesses with

the potential to improve and grow. It will help you to

find new connections, new routes to investment and the

new ideas and strategy you’ll need for your business to

achieve its full potential. It offers: Access to Finance, Busi-

ness Development, Growth through Innovation, Leadership

and Management and GrowthCommunity. Find out more

by visiting http://www.growthaccelerator.com/

Growth Accelerator

Development plots available

T he map on the right

shows the land which

is currently available for

development. Approx.

40% is now sold or under

offer (coloured red). Our

land is being sold as

‘shovel ready’, so a lot of

investment has been go-

ing into bringing utilities

to the plots. That means

that as potential investors

have come forward, we

have been ready and able

to meet their require-

ments.

Image

Businesses in the following sectors are eligible to take ad-

vantage of the benefits of locating on Skylon Park:

• Defence & Security

• Advanced Manufacturing/ Engineering

• Food & Drink

• Sustainable Technologies

• Business Services

If your business falls outside of these sectors, more information about land availability elsewhere in the county can be accessed by calling 01432 261758.

Companies in the Enterprise Zone benefit from:

Business Rates relief, worth up to £275,000 per business

over a five year period

Simplified planning process, with planning already ap-

proved for the majority of investors

Superfast broadband

Local business sponsorship & increase in business profile

Help with skills and recruitment

F unding Circle is the leading marketplace for business

loans, where people and organisations can directly

lend to small businesses looking to expand and grow.

Business loans of £5,000 - £1 million are available to busi-

nesses registered in Herefordshire over a period of 6

months to 5 years. The loans can be used to grow a busi-

ness, finance working capital, cover one-off business costs

or to buy an asset. To apply for a loan or to find out more

visit https://www.fundingcircle.com/ to find out more.

Funding Circle Loans

I f you are planning to grow your business, make an investment or purchase new equipment, then you may find the addi-

tional funding you need through one of the current funding programmes. Go to https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/

business-and-employment/business-grants/grants-business to find out more. See below for 2 of the current schemes .

Other funding available to assist SMEs

GrowthAccelerator