Breathing new life into the North West

Once completed the waterfront promises to provide 104,000 sq m of new commercial office and light industrial space. The project will aso create over 2,700 jobs and bring wealth and vitality to the region as a whole. Construction began on Forward Point in March 2008 to transform the Brownfield site into 16,500 sq ft of high quality, modern, flexible office space. The project was backed by £596,000 of regeneration funding from the European Union and work was completed in October last year. The units, which are now available to buy or let, boast panoramic views of the Mersey Estuary.

Turnstone Business park, which comprises a total of 60,000 sq ft of hybrid and office accommodation, was completed in 2008 and is proving to be very popular in the current market. Murray Carr, Area Development Management for Priority Sites, explains: “Our hallmark recipe of hybrid accommodation, which dedicates a generous 50 percent of the space to high quality offices and the remainder to warehousing, is the kind of flexibility business owners in the area are looking for.”

OMG Plumbing and Heating Ltd was the first occupier to move into Turnstone Business Park – the plumbing and heating specialist, which has been established for over 20 years, has occupied 3,000 sq ft of flexible premises which will aid the company’s continued expansion. Ged O’Mahony, Managing Director of OMG, said: “As an expanding SME, we had a lengthy search to find new premises that would meet our requirements for generous warehousing facilities along with spacious, well appointed offices, from which to run our operation and hold client meetings. The brand new hybrid accommodation at Turnstone Business Park has really hit the mark and allowed us to operate our headquarters and warehouse all under one roof.”

Discussions are taking place for a 15,000 sq ft carbon neutral hybrid office/industrial development by Lewis Capital Investments. The 1.5 acre site will see the creation of six 2,500 sq ft individual hybrid office/light industrial buildings alongside a three-storey serviced office building.

Targeted at business start ups and available for sale or let, the development’s aim for carbon neutrality will be addressed in a number of ways: Power requirement will be kept to a minimum through an innovative climate control and lighting system that will cut energy consumption by half. This low energy requirement will be supplied from onsite renewable energy sources – enough to power the buildings once they are fully occupied and operational. Derek Lewis, of Capital Investments, said: “The marriage of renewable energy sources and technology that cleverly reduces the amount of energy required will result in this development being the most environmentally friendly development, certainly on The Waterfront, and probably the North West.”

The second phase of Heron Business Park is now almost complete with 19 industrial units housed in five new buildings with units ranging in size from 1,560 sq ft up to 30,440 sq ft. The first phase was completed in mid 2008 and saw the construction of 11 units totalling 50,184 sq ft. Simon James of St Modwen, said: “Demand for this size and type of product has been consistently strong throughout the past three years. But this is the first scheme developed in Widnes to provide units of this size that can be bought or rented.”

Widnes Waterfront is one of only fourteen Economic Development Zones (EDZ) in the North West and will, over the coming years, coordinate the wholesale regeneration of a 200-acre former industrial area in Southern Widnes.

For more information on Widnes Waterfront or any of the developments visit widneswaterfront.co.uk or call 0151 471 7347