Shrewsbury Business Park phase three plots to go on sale next year

The third stage of Shrewsbury Business Park is hoped to get under way as soon as possible, it has been revealed, as the "second phase" site is now up and running.

Getting roads and infrastructure in place for a third stage of the £60 million, 350,000 square foot business park in place is now a priority, council bosses have said.

The current phase two of the park, off the A5 at Emstrey on the south western edge of the town, is now an established site, Clive Wright, chief executive of Shropshire Council said, so discussions have been tabled for Shropshire Council's cabinet to get things going on the as-yet-unstarted phase three, so that interested businesses can start bidding for sites.

Mr Wright said phase one of the business park was complete and "the basic things" were now all in place for stage two, which was now filling up.

He said discussion of phase three had been scheduled as Shropshire Council was keen to press on to encourage businesses to take up plots on the site, with inquiries already coming in.

He said: "We are now developing phase three to get infrastructure and roads in place as soon as possible.

"Three is a bigger site. We have had some interest so the sooner we can put access routes in the sooner we can take it to market and say it is open for business.

"The site will be marketed in the new year," he said.

The genesis of Shrewsbury Business Park dates back to 2001, and work is still taking place on phase two.

The second phase has recently seen £1.5m being invested in new infrastructure, a new access point from Wenlock Road and a new half-a-million Co-operative store opened on the site last month, creating 14 jobs.

Berrys, the Shropshire-based firms of surveyors and valuers, also announced it had selected Shrewsbury Business Park for its new headquarters building in October.

So far 250,000 square foot of floor space has been created at the business park, overseen by Alaska Property Group, with more than 1,200 jobs already created and hopes to turn it into the county's leading office location, with supporting services such as a Holiday Inn Express hotel, children's day care centre and now the Co-Op food store supporting workers on site.

Another 100,000 square foot of floor space is in the pipeline.

Town and county Councillor Peter Nutting said the news was positive for the town. He said: "Shrewsbury is a fast growing town. We are building lots of houses so we need lots of employment and this is an ideal opportunity to get the right sorts of jobs into the town."