Investment in Hereford's Enterprise Zone reaches £16m

The new figure was announced this week when project investors were also told the developed site now covered an area of 31,000 sq metres.

The update on progress was given to members of the Marches LEP Board during a tour of Skylon Park.

Hosted by Bill Jackson, the Chairman of the Enterprise Zone, board members from across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, saw both development work on cleared sites as well as newly developed premises, and met with investors.

Mr Jackson said: “We currently have 31,000 square metres of new and refurbished premises created or under construction by 16 investors on 27 acres of land.

“This is a £16m investment in construction on Skylon Park to date, creating hundreds of new jobs.

“We were also able to show the board members the two direct developments we’ve built on the Zone, Skylon Court and Skylon Place, with £3.3m invested and all 13 units are let and occupied.”

The LEP Board also had a chance to meet and talk with investors, including Ken Davies, of KGD, which is investing £5m in a new development at Hursey Road, with the creation of 50 new jobs.

The development is a major expansion for KGD, which has existing premises nearby in Netherwood Road, and will enable it to increase capacity as demand grows for its fabricated equipment which is used by the likes of Texaco, Shell, Glaxo Smith Kline, Chevron and BP.

Chairman of the Marches LEP Graham Wynn hailed the “great progress” of development on the 72-acre Zone,

“I can remember so much of this site being brown field open space only two or three years ago and it is fantastic to see the levels of investment and job creation happening on the Zone,” he said.

“Ken Davies’ £5m investment is a huge boost for Skylon Park, and is the largest single company investment on the Zone to date.”

The EZ team also updated the LEP on plans for the former munitions factory and proposals for the new cyber centre which will be part-funded by the Marches LEP’s Growth Deal.