Perfectly positioned

The Channel Corridor town of Ashford, in Kent, is now beginning to realise its business potential after years of meticulous planning, thanks to an ambitious £650m investment programme

Ashford, identified by the government as one of the key growth areas in the South East, is now the fastest growing town between London and the Continent. It is set to double in size by 2031, creating 28,000 extra jobs and 31,000 new homes.

The ancient market town’s growth potential is built on its strategic location, affordable land prices, readily available development opportunities, skilled workforce and improving rail links – the introduction of the new 140mph high-speed link in 2009 will slash travel times from Ashford to London to 37 minutes.

For those in charge of delivering these plans, the blueprint for success is simple – to make it the best-placed town to work, live and do business. The ‘Ashford best placed…’ brand reflects the confidence of a town which is optimistic about the opportunities ahead.

The agency masterminding this is Ashford’s Future, a partnership between Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council, the South East England Development Agency, English Partnerships and other agencies.
Ashford’s location is critical to its success, as Economic Development Manager Andrew Osborne explains: “We have excellent road, rail, air and sea links providing businesses with easy access to 360 million consumers across Europe. We are perfectly positioned to give business a powerful edge and I believe that we offer one of the best investment opportunities in the UK.”

Ashford had 16 established business parks and was home to 5,000 businesses, from micro-companies right through to major global corporations like Givaudan, Coty Inc and Hitachi, the Japanese manufacturer of the new high-speed domestic trains, he said.

“Ashford offers 2m sq ft of planned office space and there were available sites on expanding business parks. Office rents are around 70 percent lower than in London and 40 percent less than in competitor towns in the South East. From corporate headquarters to start-up premises, Ashford offers a range of workspace for all types of business.”
With major development projects scheduled to come on stream right up to 2031, there are ongoing investment opportunities in Ashford, including a number of town centre sites. These include the development of the 7.5 acre Elwick Road South site into a retail/leisure-led mixed use scheme, and with the potential for 500,000 sq ft of commercial development around the international and domestic station.

“With so many major projects under way, there’s a real buzz about Ashford,” said Osborne. “We are committed to implementing a phased programme of change in a sustainable way and through our business and agency partnerships, we are on course to reap the rewards of being best placed in Britain.”

Quadrant Estates has completed the first phase of its £350m new business park development, Eureka Park, at J9 of the M20. The site already has 300,000 sq ft of offices housing companies like Brakes, the UK’s top food service supplier, and Coty Inc, the world’s largest fragrance company.

The completion of Northdown, the first phase of the 1.25m sq ft of development at Eureka, provides 50,000 sq ft of units with enough floor space to support up to 500 jobs. Northdown, which is more than 70 percent sold or under offer, has attracted several major companies. A big proportion has come from outside Ashford, a pattern that’s continuing with new enquiries.

Quadrant Estates director Tristram Gethin said Ashford was now starting to make people in the commercial property world sit up and take notice. “There has been a very noticeable change. If you talk to all the major agents now, who always used to poo-poo Ashford, there’s a significant change. They come down here and are all pleasantly surprised,” he said.

Among those relocating to Northdown is Commidea, a leading developer of card payment processing systems, which has taken 12,500 sq ft and is relocating from Maidstone in Kent.
“The close links to Europe and the fact that Ashford is one of the fastest growing towns in the South East was key to our decision,” said Commidea marketing manager Matthew Roots.

Abigail Raymond, acting managing director for Ashford’s Future, said: “The arrival of more high-calibre companies at Eureka further strengthens Ashford’s reputation as a high quality, world-class business location.
“Eureka is now one of the most rapidly expanding business developments in the South East. It will provide a huge boost to the local economy and, with its capacity to provide up to 10,000 jobs when fully developed, it will go a long way to helping Ashford meet its target of creating 28,000 jobs by 2031.”

Eureka Park is a joint venture between Quadrant Estates and Trinity College Cambridge. The letting agents are Knight Frank, Bidwells and Martine Waghorn. The architects for Northdown are Scott Brownrigg. An intriguing feature of Ashford’s growth is an imaginative plan to create what could become one of the largest Shared Space schemes in the world in the heart of the town.

With Ashford set to double in size in the next 30 years, planners were concerned that its 1970s four-lane ring road would become congested, strangling life in the town’s historic centre. To combat this, urban planners have emulated Home Zone or Shared Space schemes in Europe and Scandinavia.

Around £12m is being spent to reduce a third of Ashford’s ring road to a two-way, slowed-down ‘quality street’, jointly designed by sculptors, artists and engineers. The new-look road, expected to be completed by 2008, will strip away road signs and traffic lights and instead boast way-marking water channels and south-facing terraces.
All are designed to inspire a more harmonious relationship between drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. Paul Wookey, chief executive of Locate in Kent, said: “Ashford is one of Kent’s business hotspots with its variety of quality commercial properties and sites. The impressive multi-million pound commercial, residential and retail developments, including the extension of County Square, make Ashford an attractive location for potential investors. We are already seeing an increase in enquiries and with the improvements in infrastructure that are already under way, together with fast rail links to London, we anticipate more companies will locate to or expand in the area, creating more jobs.”

Key aspects of Ashford’s £650m investment programme include:
2 million sq ft of commercial office development available
Introduction of high-speed rail services to London in 2009, reducing travel time to 37 minutes
A £65m extension of existing County Square Shopping Centre, opening spring 2008
Expanding education facilities, including £55m Ashford Learning Campus
Some of the best leisure and sports facilities in the South East, including a multi-million-pound redeveloped leisure centre and international standard athletics stadium
Development of large-scale residential neighbourhoods
£28m investment in transport schemes, including transformation of the Ashford ring road, M20/J10 widening improvements, a new J10a costing £56m and a park and ride scheme
£24m investment to improve water supplies

Key commercial development sites in Ashford
Eureka Park - a major business park comprising 250,000 sq ft of built business space with outline consent for a further 1,250,000 sq ft. Set in a 96 acre prime business location just off J9 of the M20.

Elwick Road South - a development partner is currently being sought by agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) on behalf of land owner SEEDA for this 7.5 acre town centre mixed use scheme, that will incorporate retail, leisure, office and residential. The site is opposite the County Square shopping centre and is an integral part of the re-styled Shared Space ring road. JLL say the development will create a link between the town centre and the domestic and international station. Once SEEDA has secured a joint venture partner, the development of the site is expected to get under way in 2009.

Orbital Park is an existing business park that has seen considerable development over the last 10 years to provide a home for companies such as BP Travel Marketing Services, the GSE Group, and Maruwa, one of the largest producers of ceramic substrates for the electronic sector. Recent developments include the completion of Isis Business Park and a Trade Counter development, while current schemes being developed include Axiom, by Salmon Developments, and The Glenmore Centre, providing new business space solutions in this thriving estate.

Other key commercial development sites ripe for investment include industrial and business parks at the Waterbrook green field site and the extension of the existing Henwood Estate; 500,000 sq ft office space at Dover Place / Tannery Lane; the town centre Elwick Road North brown field site; and the green field Sevington Business Park site.

Ashford’s County Square shopping centre extension is ahead of schedule for its launch in spring 2008. The revitalised centre will bring department store shopping to the town for the first time in the form of anchor store Debenhams, and will open on March 15 2008. Other new stores signed up include H&M and Next.

The £65m extension will create an extra 22 new shops, bringing the total number of outlets to 60. There will be a new multi-storey car park, in addition to the existing one, which together will provide spaces for 600 vehicles.
The 240,000 sq ft ING Real Estate-owned Country Square centre was originally opened in 1975. The 200,000 sq ft extension started in August 2005.