New phase for business complex site

Sep 27 2007 By The Journal

A BUILDING firm which created a business complex on land bought from One NorthEast has announced plans for a second phase of works.

Whitfield Building Services (WBS) has revealed it has bought a further two acres of land at Meadowfield Industrial Estate in Durham from the regional development agency.

The sale of the land comes on the back of the deal WBS struck with One NorthEast last year, which saw the company purchase two acres of land on which it built an office block housing four business units and a bistro.

Kevin Whitfield, managing director of Whitfield Business Services, which is also located at Meadowfield Industrial Estate, said: “I am delighted we have been able to negotiate a further two acres of land from One NorthEast. We said last year that if the first site was successful we’d be interested in buying more land. This has certainly been the case, with Durham County Council taking possession of the last 650 sq m unit in January next year.

“The first office block has proved extremely popular with local companies and I am confident this second development can be just as successful.”

Whitfield Business Services was founded in 1967. In 1988 it branched out into the residential property development sector, when it bought four town houses in Durham.

Today it employs over 140 people and has a £7m turnover.

Ed Rowley, acting director of regeneration at One NorthEast, said: “The development of the land purchased from the agency last year has become a thriving business complex, which met the agency’s quality design standards. Because of its success, Whitfield Building Services approached us about the possibility of buying a further two acres of land, and I’m pleased to say this has now become a reality. The site, like the first one we sold to the company, has tremendous potential and I’m confident the company will be able to unlock this to provide much-needed, high-quality accommodation for new and expanding businesses.”

Phase two is being funded by the Allied Irish Bank (AIB) and will be managed by Mr Whitfield’s property holding company, Wellsprings Properties Ltd, with the development costing £4.2m.

Mr Whitfield added: “Some people say that there’s no future in developments like this, but I think we’ve proved that certainly isn’t the case. In fact, we’ve already had interest from Durham City Council based purely on our plans, which is encouraging, and is a strong indicator that this development can become a buzzing business complex.”

Work is under way now and is due to be completed in the winter of 2009. Meadowfield Industrial Estate is situated approximately four miles west of Durham City.