Initial ground work is expected to begin next month on a 250-acre innovation campus at Derby after the infrastructure specialist Balfour Beatty was named as the development’s roads contractor.
Infinity Park will cost £200m to create and aims to replicate the success of Pride Park, a business estate on the outskirts of Derby city centre, which is now full. Jointly developed by Wilson Bowden and Cedar House, the new venture will be situated between the southern suburbs of Sinfin and Chellaston and adjacent to Rolls-Royce’s civil aerospace headquarters.
The aircraft engine maker is also part of a three-way partnership providing land and funding for the project which, when completed, will offer 1.5m square feet of mixed-commercial development including offices, industrial, leisure and retail units. Rolls-Royce’s other partners are the historic Harpur Crewe Estate and Derby City Council, which is backing the scheme with a £40m grant from the Regional Growth Fund.
Colin Smith is director of engineering and technology at Rolls-Royce which, he says, “is keen to see small and medium-sized businesses in the UK’s advanced engineering and manufacturing sector grow and become more competitive and more capable suppliers to original equipment manufacturers such as ourselves”.
The first building planned for the new business park is an £11.5m Innovation Hub. Occupied and managed jointly by Derby, Aston and Cranfield universities the facility will work with the county’s major engineering manufacturers to ensure they have access to the latest academic research and development. It’s expected the 4,500sq ft Innovation Hub will be operational by late 2014.
Rebranded from its original title of the Global Technology Cluster, the renamed Infinity Park will create at least 8,000 new jobs. “Just like the highly-skilled and talented people that live and work in this region, this park will give companies the freedom, inspiration and expertise to help them innovate; provide the networks and facilities they need; and make innovation an integral part of their workforce skills and production processes,” claims the projects web site.
“Derby already employs over 53,000 workers in the technology sector, with 46,000 people working within the advanced engineering or manufacturing businesses alone,” said city council leader, Paul Bayliss. “Infinity Park will bring thousands more high-tech and associated jobs to the area, reaffirming Derby’s status as the UK’s leading hi-tech business city.”
The location of key international brands and businesses in Derbyshire, backed by their supply chains, means the area is extremely strong in traditional and innovative manufacturing, engineering and development. Commenting on the high-tech venture during a recent visit to Derby, the Prime Minister said: “This is the real heart of England and Derbyshire still boasts world-class engineering, skills and production facilities – and that is a reputation this Government is determined to invest in and build on in the years ahead.”
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