St Modwen signs Rugby industrial anchor

St Modwen Properties has signed engineering company Converteam to anchor its 100-acre regeneration of Rugby town centre, Warwickshire.   Converteam will take a bespoke 400,000 sq ft warehouse, being built at a cost of £2m on 16 acres of the former GEC complex.   It has signed a 15-year lease at rent of £900,000 pa. The engineer has operated from the site for more than 100 years under various names, principally GEC and latterly Alstom.   The industrial scheme will anchor the largest ever brownfield development in the borough.   St Modwen has planning consent a new campus for Warwickshire College, 540 homes and five acres for new employment space.   Director Peter Robbins said: “Securing Converteam’s commitment to this scheme is a major plus. It means that following the formal commitment from Warwickshire College which only awaits final confirmation of funding, the main two building blocks of the regeneration scheme will be in place. This decision justifies the efforts put into the long period of preparatory work by Rugby Borough Council and ourselves.”   Ian Sharpe, business improvement director of Converteam, said: “We are very pleased to be part of the regeneration plans for Rugby. By signing this 15-year lease we have secured Converteam’s rotating machines manufacturing capability in Rugby enabling us to deliver advanced and innovative solutions to the market.”   patrick.clift@rbi.co.uk