Sense of relief as Rock arrives on park

Mar 13 2007 By Iain Laing, The Journal

More companies are discovering the wealth of prime office space available in the North-East at massive business parks. Iain Laing discovers what lies behind the creation of two of them.

When business leaders from across the region attended an event in December to mark the completion of the first speculative phase of the £120m Rainton Bridge Business Park one could detect a slight sense of relief behind the smiles.

The arrival of key tenant Northern Rock had been in question for more than six months because of the Government's decision to put an Article 14 order on the development.

The order is used where developments are seen as likely to result in too much congestion on nearby roads, in this case the A19 dual carriageway.

Businesses felt the awarding of so many of these orders was seriously compromising the economic growth of the North-East.

A campaign called Go For Jobs was launched by The Journal, Evening Gazette, and the North-East Chamber of Commerce to force the Government to rethink its use of the Article 14 orders, which was echoed by similar campaigns nationwide. And under growing pressure, the Department for Transport began to reverse some of the orders, including the one which had been slapped on the plans for a huge £60m Northern Rock offices at Rainton Park which would hold more than 3,500 staff.

North-East Chamber of Commerce policy director Andrew Sugden responded: "It's fantastic news. Slowly but surely, we're removing the blight of Article 14s on development in this region." And Transport Secretary Stephen Ladyman said: "This is good news for the North-East as the Rainton Bridge scheme can now be taken forward to the next stage.

"This announcement demonstrates the Government's continuing commitment to supporting and promoting the economic development of the region. I promised we would do our best to lift this direction before recess and we have delivered."

But that is just part of the grand plan for the business park, which is expected to create a minimum 4,000 jobs over the next seven years.

Joint developers international office and business park specialist Akeler and Sunderland City Council have already finished five buildings totalling 120,000sqft of office space. And all five have already attracted strong interest from potential investors.

Once complete, the 54-acre Rainton Bridge will be one of the best technologically connected business parks in the UK confirming Sunderland as a world class business location.

Rainton Bridge is the second joint venture to be developed by Sunderland City Council and Akeler. It follows in the footsteps of the internationally renowned Doxford International which is host to a range of corporate HQs and financial and customer services organisations and 8,000 people are currently employed at the business park.

Sunderland Council leader Coun Bob Symonds explained: "The completion of phase one of Rainton Bridge marks another major milestone for the partnership behind this joint venture and for the city as a whole.

"Sunderland is I believe unique in its partnership with the private sector. This new development is testimony to the city council's close relationship with Akeler and its commitment to attracting jobs and investment into the city.

"The completion of phase one of Rainton Bridge will reinforce Sunderland's status as a leading international business centre."

Patrick Going, director of Akeler, then added: "We are determined with the city council to make this development successful and bring thousands of job opportunities to the people of Sunderland and the region as a whole."