Hundreds of jobs in £50m scheme

May 14 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

A NEW industrial park is to be created on the edge of Darlington with a £50m investment from regeneration specialist St Modwen. The Birmingham developer has signed a deal with Darlington Council to develop land next to Faverdale East Business Park, which is home to large units for occupiers including Argos Direct and Aldi.

The site, within easy reach of junction 58 of the A1(M), is likely to prove attractive to retailers seeking a distribution base, though St Modwen says it will welcome inquiries from a range of occupiers.

The industrial park will – subject to planning permission – provide 1.2m sqft of development on a 70-acre greenfield site, with the potential to create hundreds of jobs.

The project follows St Modwen’s acquisition of the former Newells glassworks in Sunderland at the beginning of this year.

St Modwen regional manager Steve Prosser said: “This development is on land that we own, adjacent to the Argos facility. We have owned the land for four or five years.

“Our property is effectively landlocked, which led to discussions with the council about getting access to it through their land.

“Now we have established a way to ‘unlock’ the land and bring it forward for development. Our planning application is well researched, so all the information the council needs is there.

“The site has the potential to provide up to 1.2m sqft of space and once planning has been obtained we will bring forward design and build opportunities.”

Mr Prosser said there was a lot of potential in providing industrial and distribution property in the North East.

He said: “As a nation, we are becoming more and more reliant on importing. The big food retailers are moving towards more strategic ways to store products.

“There is a view that the North East, and specifically areas around Darlington and further north, will become more strategically important. However, we will not limit ourselves to purely retailers for this site. We are seeking consent for B1, B2 and B8 uses.

“We could bring forward employment units for manufacturing and research and development. We are completely flexible – there could be units from 5,000sqft to 1m sqft.

Mr Prosser said his company could invest more in the North East after its initial interest in Sunderland and Darlington.

He said: “The North East provides a lot of opportunities for St Modwen and we will be looking to invest further.”

Darlington Council cabinet member for transport Coun David Lyonette said: “This is excellent news for Darlington. It is another boost for the local and regional economy and excellent to see so many more new jobs being created.”