Rapid expansion is taking place across Norfolk and Suffolk’s Enterprise Zones with demand for industrial and other commercial premises on the increase, promising the creation of hundreds of new jobs.
Eastern Gateway (pictured) at Sproughton near Ipswich is to see the development of five large industrial and logistics units after Trebor Developments secured planning consent for the scheme – the third major development there following the distribution centres set up by Amazon and LDH La Doria.
Construction is well underway on the Lidl supermarket at the Nacton Road end of Futura Park, a mix of retail, office and industrial premises southeast of Ipswich, while progress is being made on road infrastructure at Gateway 14 in Stowmarket, the Enterprise Zone and Freeport East site.
Since being established by New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, the Space to Innovate and Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft Enterprise Zones have boosted 4,934 jobs and supported 216 businesses, while supporting 3,736 jobs in the wider construction sector. In addition, the sites have unlocked 137ha of development land and leveraged £631m of public and private sector capital spending.
Work on the Trebor Developments scheme at Eastern Gateway starts next month and units will be ready for tenants from May 2023. Around 350 jobs are expected to be created in Ipswich and the surrounding area.
Managing Partner Bob Tattrie said: “Trebor look forward to starting on site this autumn with the five-unit speculative development of quality and highly sustainable industrial units to meet local occupier demands for new accommodation. This is an exciting scheme which we look forward to delivering with completions in summer 2023.”
Sustainable packing company Frugalpac – which made headlines after developing the world’s first paper wine and spirits bottle – opened an 11,000sq ft engineering innovation centre at Futura Park in January 2022.
The innovative firm’s Frugal Bottle has a 94% recyclable paperboard outer, up to 77% less plastic than a plastic bottle, and a carbon footprint which is six times lower than a glass bottle. More than 25 different drinks producers from around the world have now launched wines, spirits and olive oils in its sustainable bottle.
CEO Malcolm Waugh says of the Futura Park Enterprise Zone site: “Its well-connected location provided the space required to enable the next phase of Frugalpac’s growth. Our new facility on Crane Boulevard houses our Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine, which can produce 2.5 million paper bottles a year, and brings together our office and production teams under one roof for the first time.
“Frugalpac’s relocation to Futura Park marks an exciting new chapter as we continue developing and designing our innovative sustainable packaging with the lowest carbon footprint.”
Scottow Enterprise Park is a 600-acre site near Coltishall in Norfolk managed by Hethel Innovation and home to over 110 businesses operating in sectors as diverse as aerospace and food and drink.
Javabean began life as a small coffee roaster in 2016 operating out of a small industrial unit at Rollesby. Three years later it moved to Scottow and it soon became apparent that opening a coffee shop could be mutually beneficial to Javabean and the Enterprise Zone community.
Covid naturally proved challenging, but in January 2022 new owners Lester and Angela Marshall and Garry Havens took over and Javabean is now making a strong recovery.
“We see a lot more visitors buying food and coffee from the coffee shop and Hethel Innovation is really working hard to build a strong community spirit at Scottow,” says Garry.
“Javabean is investing in new capabilities for the site, such as meeting rooms for hire, an app for online ordering and delivery services, and a new website. Some of these initiatives are being assisted by other businesses in the Enterprise Zone community and we probably wouldn’t have been able to do them quickly without their help.”
To find out about opportunities at the LEP’s Enterprise Zone sites, contact Eunice Edwards at [email protected]
