Council invests £730K into new workspace for local business

Wyre Forest District Council has announced plans to extend its work space accommodation for new and developing businesses by purchasing a new unit on the Hoo Farm Industrial Estate.

In 2014 the Council opened its doors on the SPACE business centre on the Hoo Farm Industrial Estate as part of its initiative to help local businesses start up and grow. The SPACE unit offers incubation space to start up businesses and enables them to grow over a three year period before they are then able to secure their own accommodation elsewhere and free up the space for new businesses to move into. The initiative has been very successful with 40 businesses having been supported since it opened.

Councillor Chris Rogers, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Planning said:

“The existing SPACE building has been immensely successful in supporting growing businesses.  The Council only leases this unit and there is just another five years of the lease left to run, so we are delighted that we’ve been able to secure permanent accommodation through the purchase of another unit on the same industrial estate. This will enable us to expand our support for new and developing businesses as well as providing improved accommodation for our existing SPACE tenants.”

The Council has agreed a deal with The Community Housing Group to purchase its former stores and offices at Forest House on Edwin Avenue and plans to relocate its existing SPACE tenants in the spring when works to convert Forest House are expected to be complete.

Councillor Nathan Desmond, Cabinet Member for Resources said:

“This is another example of the Council utilising its Capital Portfolio Fund to invest in property within the district. The Council is committed to supporting the local economy and this is a fantastic project where we’ve been able to use our investment initiative to spend £730k of our fund to acquire a property within the district that gives direct support to our local businesses.”

The Council expects to complete the purchase of Forest House by the end of March and the new accommodation is expected to be available from spring when existing tenants at the SPACE unit will be able to move in.

Councillor Howard Williams Wyre Forest Member Champion for Business & Enterprise added,

“The good thing about Forest House is that it provides additional space that the Council can let to new business start ups, in addition to the relocation of our existing tenants, and I’d encourage anyone in the district who is interested in finding accommodation to start up or grow their fledgling business to get in touch with us as soon as possible as we expect demand to be high”.