New opportunities
in the Blackpool Bay Area
Make your move
An Investment Prospectus
Welcome to the ‘Can Do Coast’
The Blackpool Bay Area has a
rich history in manufacturing
and tourism, is home to
a population with the full
variety of skills to support new
investment and business and is
also blessed with an unrivalled
environment and a fantastic
quality of life.
This prospectus seeks to
provide a flavour of the
opportunities on offer in the
area, an insight into the work
already underway to support
new enterprise and investment,
together with an outline of the
ways in which we can assist with
the growth of your business.
2
3
Westinghouse Electric Company
BAE Systems
Blackpool & The Fylde Nautical College
Location and map
The Blackpool Bay Area is at the heart of the Northwest
bay, close to Manchester, Liverpool and Preston.
4
Blackpool at the heart of the ‘Can Do Coast’
Blackpool is synonymous with fun, excitement and new
leisure experiences for people from all sections of British
society.
Today, Blackpool continues to evolve and has embarked on a radical and
ambitious programme to reinvent itself as a World Class Resort destination.
Significant investment in Blackpool’s infrastructure is clearly evident through
improvements to public space, the revitalised promenade, the ‘Festival Headland’
and events space in front of the Tower, investment in the illuminations spectacle,
Brilliance - a light and sound show - in the town centre and an events programme
that goes from strength to strength annually. All of these activities serve to
raise Blackpool’s profile and to help maintain its appeal outside the traditional
“season”.
The Pleasure Beach Resort has created the UK’s first Nickelodeon themed
attraction incorporating a multi-million pound investment within the park, which
was operational for the start of the 2011 season.
Equally significant is the welcome introduction of Merlin Entertainments who
are building upon their operation of Sea Life Blackpool with the addition of The
Blackpool Tower, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon and the new Madame Tussauds
during the 2011 season.
The £150m Houndshill shopping centre extension has set the tone for further
investment from other nearby landowners in their premises. The re-introduction
of department store shopping with Debenhams in 2008 has stimulated other
national multiples to occupy units in the town centre. The early phases of the
£150m MUSE Developments Central Business District (CBD) scheme are all set
to go ahead during 2012.
The Avatar Airbender ride at Nickelodeon Land
Investment in Blackpool:
Houndshill Shopping Centre £150m
Promenade & Tramway £190m
Higher Education Campus £10m
Central Approaches Phases I & II £16.4m
Regeneration by Light (including Birley
Street) £2.8m
Blackpool Tower £40m
Nickelodeon Land at Pleasure Beach Resort
£10m
St John’s Precinct £4.7m
Property Acquisition Programmes £13.2m
5
It’s not only Blackpool
These recent developments are just a snapshot of progress
in the Blackpool Bay Area. Business is not standing still.
International firms are already choosing the Hillhouse site for advanced chemicals
and polymers research, development and manufacture, ahead of other European
sites, whilst Typhoon Fighters continue to roll off the production line at BAE
Systems’ Warton plant and the Westinghouse Electric UK provides fuel, plant
design, and equipment for the worldwide nuclear power industry.
The area is innovating fast with a track record of business success across a broad
range of industries from manufacture of food to street furniture, from nuclear
power and environmental technologies to aerospace and from service and support
industries to hospitality and leisure.
Public realm enhancements to the main town centres and seafronts in Lytham, St
Annes, Cleveleys and Fleetwood have not only lifted quality but set the bar higher
for other related developments.
Selling success:
Companies present in the Blackpool Bay Area
BAE Systems
Westinghouse Electric UK
Global Renewables
Wyre Power
Farmgen
Danish Oil & Natural Gas
Global Renewables
Universal Products Limited
Victrex
Vinnolit
Asahi Glass & Chemicals Europe
Glasdon
Universal Products Limited
Tangerine Confectionery
Burton’s Foods
Fox’s Biscuits
Lofthouse’s Fisherman’s Friend
Kepak Group
Laila’s Fine Foods
Siemens
Hewlett Packard
Fujitsu
Auto Indemnity
Guardian Financial Services
Napthens Solicitors
Balfour Beatty
N S T Travel Group
Federation of Small Businesses
Merlin Entertainments
Nickelodeon
6
Accessible to all
With a resident population of c.330,000 people, a
marketplace of 10 million people within a two hour drive
time and more than 13m leisure visitors annually, the
area is ready to do business.
Motorway access to the heart of the area
The M55 motorway is the Blackpool Bay Area’s very own high capacity link to the
north-west and beyond. An ever improving local network provides rapid access to
all of the major business and residential areas.
Railway connections to the West Coast Main Line
Electrification of the Blackpool connecting line is scheduled to be completed by
2016 with much anticipated direct links to London expected to be re-introduced
together with increased capacity higher frequency services.
Blackpool International Airport
Located at the heart of the area, the airport has tremendous potential for
growth as a transport hub but also as a business centre with greater than local
significance.
The Tramway
Not only a tourist asset but a state of the art, 21st century high speed and high
capacity people mover serving the coastal strip between Blackpool and Fleetwood.
Port of Fleetwood
An established port with a historic association with the fishing and processing
industries but also home to a 450 berth marina and port facilities incorporating
full ro-ro capabilities.
High Speed Broadband
The Blackpool Bay Area is well served by impressive high speed broadband
internet coverage. Speeds averaging over 6 Mbps occur in the urban areas whilst
efforts to support further increased speeds throughout the area are subject to
significant investment by our partners.
The Blackpool Bay Area is highly accessible
by road and rail. Dedicated motorway
infrastructure provides reliable high speed and
high capacity access to the north-west and
beyond.
7
Affordable Quality
The Blackpool Bay Area offers all of the characteristics
to support an attractive return on investment, including a
high quality environment, a diverse skills pool and willing
workforce but above all it offers affordability and value
for money.
Residential and commercial property prices are incredibly competitive and wage
rates are lower than national averages.
Quality education and training
Blackpool & the Fylde College (B&FC)(an associate college of Lancaster
University) and Myerscough College continue to grow their reputations for
innovation & excellence in learning.
B&FC has strong national links with the Ford Motor Company and locally with
BAE Systems and Global Renewables and prides itself on being responsive to the
needs of employers. B&FC have also recently developed a new £10m University
Centre offering a wide range of courses in the heart of Blackpool.
The area also boasts schools of the highest order with grades comparable with the
best in the country.
A skilled and flexible workforce
The Blackpool Bay Area can offer a workforce with the broadest range of skills.
This is evidenced by a long-standing association with the nuclear, aerospace and
automotive industries and other technical manufacturing which has proved to be
an incubator for a succession of specialist enterprises.
A significant association with the service sector, including insurance and the Civil
Service has created a pool of reliable, flexible and work ready individuals with
skills suitable for call and service centres and regional or head office operations.
Affordability explained:
A place to live and work
Weekly Pay 81% of national average
The area is blessed with some of the best countryside, coastal scenery, recreational
amenities and beaches anywhere in the North-West.
These are supplemented by some of the UK’s finest and most challenging
golf courses, including Royal Lytham & St Annes, home to the 2012 Open
Championship, in addition to a world famous array of leisure attractions.
There is a wide variety of quality housing and locations to choose from within the
urban ribbon along the coast or the rural towns and villages further inland.
Modern town centre office rental from
£8.50/sq ft
Modern business park office rental £10/sq ft
Modern industrial / warehouse leasehold (5,000sqft) £4.75/sq ft
Prime shopping centre Zone A rental
£130/sq ft
Development land (B1 use) from
£150,000/acre
3 bed post war semi-detached house:
Blackpool ave. £124,300
St Annes ave. £135,000
4 bed new build detached house:
Harbour Village, Fleetwood ave. £227,995
Tickets for Calendar Girls @ The Winter
Gardens Opera House from £11.25
8
A Partnership for Support
A partnership of the area’s three Local Authorities and
Lancashire County Council has supported the creation of
The Blackpool Bay Area Company. Its role is to lead in
the establishment and delivery of economic strategy across
the area.
The company is also charged with encouraging and facilitating investment into
the area. We can provide intelligence on available sites and developments and will
do our utmost to assist investment in anyway we can. We will provide guidance
through red tape, funding bids, assist with key negotiations, planning application
support and any other guidance or advice that may be needed.
Economic Strategy objectives:
A productive visitor economy for the future –
recognises the need to up-shift the value of the
visitor economy, support investment in new and
varied products, improve accommodation stock
and retain retail spend within the area.
Diversification and growth in key industries –
promote continued growth in sectors that
already have a strong foothold in the area and
provide opportunity for new businesses to be
established which will diversify the employment
offer.
Asahi Glass & Chemicals Europe
Ai Claims Solutions
9
Strategic Sites
The compact geographic nature of the Blackpool Bay
Area supports the identification and promotion of
a spatial hierarchy of development sites. These are
strategically important locations which contain key
businesses and development opportunities.
The list is not exhaustive or designed to exclude other sites that can be developed
or identified individually. It is more a reflection of priorities and opportunities
aligned with the economic strategy.
The sites provide a broad mix of opportunities and in relation to business,
industry and leisure related investment. They are located within areas that have
already been the subject of investment activity, and are all well located and
supported by the relevant local authorities as priority sites for development.
The Blackpool Bay Area values business. The time is right to take advantage of a
coastal location with ambition.
The following pages contain a snapshot of opportunities within these key areas.
Strategic Sites Connectivity Map:
Urban centre
Motorway
Main Road
Railway
Tramway
Strategic sites:1. Hillhouse International
2. Fleetwood
3. Blackpool Town Centre
incorporating Central Business District
4. Central Station
5. Rigby Road Site
6. Fylde Coast Gateway
incorporating National Savings & Investments
7. Blackpool Airport Corridor
8. BAE Systems, Warton
9. Toshiba Westinghouse, Springfields
10
Hillhouse International
Location: Thornton, adjacent
A585
Size: 600 ac (243 ha)
Key stakeholder / owner: NPL
Estates Ltd
Summary: A large, fully
secure and serviced strategic
industrial and employment
site situated on the Wyre
estuary, close to the Port
of Fleetwood. Occupied by
existing successful multinational chemical and polymer
companies. Substantial
opportunities for growth and
diversification.
Purpose: Heavy industry,
chemical, polymers, energy,
housing, office and retail.
Hillhouse International has a well earned and long
established reputation as a centre of excellence for the
development and production of cutting edge chemical
and polymer based products primarily serving the export
market.
The site is currently home to several key multi-national operations including
Victrex PLC, Vinnolit GmbH and Asahi Glass & Chemicals Europe Ltd, who
specialise in the manufacture of high grade polymer based products from within
the 270 ac fully serviced secure site. The products produced are used in industries
varying from aerospace through to medical orthotics.
Global Renewables Ltd commenced operation of a £120m waste recovery
park in 2010 and later in the same year David Wilson Homes took control and
commenced operations on a site, which will eventually see the construction of 273
homes. “Wyre Power” are committed to construction of a £600m gas fired power
station, expected on site during 2012.
Opportunities:
Benefitting from proximity to the secure site, a further 30 ac (12 ha) has been
identified for development of the “Riverside Business Park”. This has potential
to accommodate B1 office pavilions and B8 type uses including trade counter
operations in an attractive and accessible location overlooking the Wyre estuary.
An additional 45 ac (18 ha) has been set aside for housing development to
complement other existing permissions and developments which have taken place
across the site.
The site is able to offer a multitude of opportunities for investment and relocation
with the support of the Local Authority and an up to date planning policy.
11
Central Business District
A proposal that will address an imbalance in the
representation of commercial office space, improve the
interchange and arrival experience at Blackpool North
Railway Station, meet the demand for food retail space
and improve the environmental quality of the area.
The Central Business District scheme is being delivered by MUSE Developments
Ltd in partnership with Blackpool Council. A first phase will introduce
commercial office space into a central location, supported by a 90,000 sq ft
foodstore operation, hotels and associated retail floorspace, traffic flow reorganisation, modernised car parking and public realm improvements, including
a new civic square. Blackpool Council is committed to centralising a significant
element of its office based staff into the town centre from remote sites across the
Borough.
Future phases will provide a new transport interchange and a hotel at the railway
station, additional offices and further transformation of the streets leading from
the new public square with new and active ground floor frontages.
Opportunities:
The development will be anchored by the foodstore and a Blackpool Council
office function, both delivered early in order to provide a critical mass and create
momentum for the development. There are, however, exciting opportunities for
forward thinking commercial operations to be a part of the Central Business
District development. Approximately 50,000 sq ft of commercial offices and in
the region of 30,000 sq ft of non-food retail space are included in the early phase
development.
First phase development is anticipated to commence early in 2012.
12
Location: Blackpool Town
Centre
Size: 25 ac (10 ha)
Key stakeholder / owner:
MUSE Developments Ltd /
Blackpool Council
Summary: Significant
developer-led redevelopment
scheme situated on the edge
of Blackpool Town Centre,
around The North Railway
Station. Anchored by a
foodstore, Blackpool Council
and other office development
and a transportation hub,
the scheme will create a new
business focus within this
strategically important site.
Purpose: Back office
administration, professional
services and retail.
Blackpool Airport Corridor
Location: Blackpool Airport
and environs
Size: 210 ac (85 ha)
Key stakeholder / owner:
ING, Land Securities, Marr
Developments, Balfour Beatty
& Morrisons, Blackpool &
Fylde Councils.
Summary: A large mixed-use
development opportunity with
an operational airport as its
focus. Occupied by a broad
mix of uses including retail,
office, manufacturing and
warehousing there is potential
for additional growth and / or
redevelopment. Opportunities
for ingoing occupation and
expansion and significant
redevelopment.
Purpose: Light manufacturing,
back office administration,
retail and distribution.
The Airport Corridor encompasses several key
employment sites which have experienced significant
growth and development in the last decade and already
boast a wide range of established operations including
retail, office, industrial and warehousing uses.
Located on the southern fringe of Blackpool, the Corridor benefits from a
dedicated dual carriageway link to the M55 motorway, just 2.5km away, and
advantageous positioning on the strategic network.
Comprising Blackpool Airport and the adjacent Blackpool Retail and Business
Parks, Squires Gate Industrial Estate and the Sycamore Trading Estate, existing
occupiers include Fujitsu, Auto Indemnity, Gledhill, Burton’s Foods and the
National Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses (FSB) to name but a
few.
Blackpool Retail Park is fully occupied and sits on a prime site opposite a
Morrison’s food superstore.
Opportunities:
Development across the corridor is supported by established planning policies
which generally accommodate a mix of B1, B2 and B8 uses together with
additional aviation related leisure use to the prime airport frontage.
The Airport and adjoining business parks are well placed to meet demand
including supply chain, back of house / administrative and avaiation related
technical facilities.
The Business and Industrial Parks have substantial undeveloped capacity and
opportunities. For example, the largely under-utilised Squires Gate Estate has
a gross floor area in the region of 1,000,000 sq ft and benefits from a 440m
prime road frontage. There remain a variety of opportunities across the Corridor
including recently constructed office and business starter-units together with clean
and serviced construction sites.
Larger scale opportunities will become available in the next three to five years as
the aviation plans at the airport and opportunities at Squires Gate are realised.
13
National Savings & Investments
A rare opportunity to acquire a prime site on the
edge of Blackpool which offers superior accessibility, a
Development Plan allocation for employment purposes
and some potential for mixed use development.
The National Savings & Investments site is ideally located close to junction
4 of the M55. Extending to 29.5 ac (12 ha), the site is currently allocated for
employment use in the Development Plan.
The site has been home to NS&I Premium Bonds since the mid 1970’s.
Recently, occupation has been shared between NS&I and the Department of
Work & Pensions. NS&I staff have consolidated into refurbished and extended
accommodation within a 6 ac part of the wider site. DWP in the form of a ‘Job
Centre Plus’ call centre occupy one of the 3 linked buildings on the site.
Two key opportunities for development of an unused part of the site and
redevelopment of existing employment land are available. The site is located less
than 1km from the M55 with dual carriageway access to the site entrance.
Opportunities:
The National Savings site contains two distinct opportunities for development,
supported by Blackpool Council’s development plan policy. Recent consolidation
of activity on site has released 12.8 ac (5.2 ha) of prime development land capable
of accommodating up to 200,000 sq ft of new build B1 Office accommodation.
Additionally, the main building complex offering 170,000 sq ft of accommodation
spread across three inter-connected buildings is available. This might suit a head
office type operation, for education / training or sub-division into managed B1
space.
The site is in the freehold of NS&I whose agents, Jones Lang La Salle, are
managing its sale.
14
Location: Blackpool M55
Junction 4
Size: 29.5 ac (12 ha)
Key stakeholder / owner:
National Savings &
Investments
Summary: Prime development
opportunity with business
park potential, located
adjacent to junction 4 of the
M55 motorway.
Purpose: HQ operations,
back office administration,
training / education.
Central Station
Location: Blackpool, Seafront
& Town Centre
Size: 17.6 ac (7.15 ha)
Key stakeholder / owner:
Blackpool Council
Summary: Strategic leisure
investment site located to
the South of Blackpool
Town Centre. Dedicated
links to the motorway and
the local strategic highway
network support an unrivalled
opportunity to provide leading
edge leisure development.
Purpose: Leisure and retail.
Superbly located on the edge of Blackpool Town Centre.
A 250m boundary onto the new Promenade and direct
access to the motorway network combine to provide the
ingredients for an unrivalled comprehensive development
opportunity.
The site of the former Blackpool Central Railway Station has had a varied history
since the railway closed in 1964. Currently occupied by a mix of car parking and
coach facilities together with various leisure and civic operations including Sea
Life, Madame Tussauds, Lancashire Constabulary and HM Courts Service.
Opportunities:
Allocated in the development plan as a major leisure site and supported by an
adopted Supplementary Planning Document, the site is largely within public
ownership. Currently subject to an exclusivity undertaking with Greenbank
Developments which is set to run until March 2012 whilst development mix and
feasibility is determined.
The outcome of development investigations will determine the speed with which
the Central Station site will be brought forward. The key to delivery is in a
comprehensive approach to masterplanning and development.
15
Interested?
The Blackpool Bay Area Company is here to help.
We can offer:
- a single point of contact for all development and investment enquiries
- impartial advice and business development support including staffing and skills
assistance
- site finding and partnership brokering
- local authority liaison
- support to identify and access funding through public and private sectors
- promoting the interests of the Blackpool Bay Area at a Lancashire, North-West
Region and National level
- championing investment across the region.
For more information,
please...
Call: Rob Green or Lee Burrell
01253 478909
Website: www.investblackpoolbay.com
Visit: The New Blackpool Enterprise Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1EW