Real estate investors are being presented with the chance grab a slice of £4.2bn-worth of development projects across the East of England in an initiative that a local MP hopes will be “the first chapter” in a new story for the region.
The East of England Investment Prospectus showcases eight projects around the region in sectors including life sciences, agri-tech and advanced manufacturing (see box for details).
The initiative is backed by the East of England All Party Parliamentary Group and led by Jack Abbott MP, Mission Champion for the East of England. Other stakeholders include Chambers East, Local Government East and the UK Innovation Corridor, as well as Kanda Consulting, White Hawk Green and Winkworth Sherwood.
The prospectus, launched at the UKREiiF conference (see inset photo), aims to be what Jackie Sadek, chair of the UK Innovation Corridor, described as “a gateway to unlocking the full potential of the region’s most dynamic and future-facing industries”.
Karen Alcock, managing director at Kanda Consulting, said the venture should “help to realise the government’s ambitions for sector-led, innovation-driven growth”.
For Abbott, it is a chance to shout loudly and proudly about the scale and variety of investment opportunities in the region.
“If I’m really honest, our region isn’t always right at the forefront of people’s minds when you talk to them about potential investment,” he told Estates Gazette in an exclusive interview. “You mention Cambridge, Port of Felixstowe, Sizewell and the energy case, and it’s a bit like [the movie] Life of Brian: ‘Well, yeah, apart from all of those things’. We want to showcase the diversity on offer of what we’ve got.”
Achievable ambitions
The team behind the prospectus worked through dozens of submissions before whittling the list down to the eight now being pitched.
“What we didn’t want is a War and Peace list of 60 projects of varying sizes and values, in various different places when it comes to delivery,” Abbott said. “We knew we had to have a really targeted, pragmatic list of projects that, if you gave us the money tomorrow, we could get shovels in the ground. I won’t call them low-hanging fruit – they’re all £100m-plus and collectively they’ll be worth just over £4bn when they’re built. We wanted to showcase the ambition but we wanted to make sure we can deliver.”
The £120m Portman Road redevelopment in Ipswich is a poster project for what Abbott and his peers hope the prospectus can do for the region.
“If we deliver that swimming pool alongside the hotel car park, and allow the football stadium to expand in the future as well, that is a massive regeneration project for our town,” said Abbott, who is MP for Ipswich.
“The same goes for the one in Stevenage around the train station as well. These aren’t just about the growth agenda and boosting the economy, they’re about massive social change and getting our towns back on their feet as well.”
History and heritage
White Hawk Green founder Gavin Winbanks sees the prospectus as a chance to highlight towns, cities and sectors that might have fallen off the radar for some investors. The involvement of varied stakeholders “means we’ve actually got the infrastructure in place to be able to deliver this over a longer term”, he added, noting that this is set to be an ongoing initiative.
“Parts of the wider [region], particularly the likes of Cambridge, are well known to the international investor community,” Winbanks said. “And on the infrastructure side there’s no shortage of investment that’s gone into parts of the East of England. I see what we’re trying to achieve as elevating the conversations that are already happening within different parts of the East of England. It’s a way of showcasing all the [activity] that is happening in a concerted fashion and talk about some of the key metrics of what’s going on.”
Indeed, while Cambridge will remain the region’s “jewel”, the team behind the initiative wanted to ensure the span of projects in the prospectus went further east and south, with Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk represented.
“When it comes to telecoms, logistics and energy, we’ve got a really important story to tell, quite apart from life sciences, agriculture and everything else like that,” Abbott said. “We’ve got fantastic foundations here, real history and heritage when it comes to delivery in these sectors. But we’re not complacent and we don’t want to rest on that. We want to evolve some of these areas and build for the next generation. This isn’t about a couple of projects which will benefit us during construction. These will be building new foundations for the next 10, 20, 30 years.”
The projects
Aviva Chesterford Research Park (£500m GDV): A life sciences hub in Uttlesford, Essex, seeking expansion to meet demand in the Cambridge life sciences market
Bushey Golf & Country Club (£116m): The redevelopment of the site to deliver a mixed-use scheme of housing, retail and community uses, delivered by Hertsmere Borough Council and a private development partner
Cross Point Logistics Park (£500m): A proposed logistics and industrial park near Huntingdon and Peterborough
Greater Brookfield, Broxbourne (£1.1bn): Investment is being sought to unlock enabling infrastructure and accelerating delivery of a mixed-use retail and leisure hub and a master-planned residential neighbourhood
Hatfield Innovation Campus (£800m): An opportunity for investors to play a pivotal role in creating a flagship development in Welwyn Hatfield
Portman Road redevelopment (£120m): An opportunity to participate in a regeneration scheme including an Aquatics Centre, a 150-room 4-star hotel and a 750-space multi-storey car park in Ipswich
Southend Airport Business Park (£150m): Investment opportunities in developing funding and commercial leasing for a business park to accommodate aviation, logistics, advanced manufacturing and supported uses next to London Southend Airport in Rochford
Station Gateway (£1bn): An opportunity to ensure long-lasting investment in the development of housing, workspace and improved infrastructure in Stevenage
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