29/7/2009 - Getting ready for business

Companies are being invited to set up base at a new £1.9million business centre in Maryport.

Being built on the site of the former British Industrial Plastics (BIP) factory on the Solway Trading Estate, the new centre will provide 30 units for a wide variety of small and medium sized businesses at an ideal location on the A596 south of Maryport town centre.

Due to be completed at the end of October and ready for businesses to move in during early November, it is hoped the enterprise, owned by Cumbria County Council, could create up to 40 new jobs and provide a boost to the economy of Maryport and west Cumbria.

And with completion edging ever closer, the county council has enlisted the help of property consultants Hyde Harrington to market the site and attract potential tenants.

Offering secure, managed, energy efficient accommodation at competitive prices for uses ranging from light industry to high-tech office, the site is entirely on ground level, with ample car parking and delivery space available.

The 30 units are made up of six studio and 24 industrial units and the building has been designed to be flexible with walls that can be easily moved to make the industrial units larger or smaller, subject to demand.

Elements of the old BIP factory, which closed in the mid 1990s, have even been retained in the architecture of the new building to maintain a link with Maryport’s industrial past.

The business centre is just one of a number of regeneration projects the county council is involved with in Maryport that aims to transform the town into a hub for business and high quality tourism. Others include:

* Hutton Place –a £950,000 new road is being built to provide quicker, more direct access from the southern end of Maryport to the harbour. It will involve landscaping, straightening out a bad bend and installing a new roundabout to provide a second access to the Glasson Industrial Estate. It is due to be completed in October.

* Maryport Marina –A new office has been built for the Harbour Authority and the boat repair building improved to cope with taller vessels. A boat lift was also purchased to enable boats to be lifted in or out of the water more quickly and the boat berthing facilities revamped.

* Sandy Lonning Allotments –Derelict sheds have been removed and the grounds cleaned up to make way for new pigeon lofts, allotments and footpaths.

The business centre has been made possible thanks to £650,000 worth of funding from West Cumbria Delivery Board, via the Northwest Regional Development Agency, £950,000 from the European Regional Development Fund and £300,000 from the West Cumbria Development Fund.

Councillor Tony Markley, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for economic development, said: "This new business centre is going to play a very important role in providing jobs, giving the economy a lift and ensuring local businesses have the space and facilities they need to thrive.

"It’s ideal for either new businesses or established companies looking to relocate and it’s in a great location having good road links to the rest of west Cumbria and being only about 40 minutes away from the M6.

"I’m sure it will quickly attract potential tenants who are really going to benefit from what the centre has to offer."

The recently implemented marketing activities are already generating a number of enquiries from interested businesses.

For more information on the centre or to enquire about setting up business on the site visit www.maryportbusinesscentre.co.uk or contact Hyde Harrington property consultants on 01228 595600.

ENDS

Media enquiries to media officer John Ballard on 01228 226330