Object

Preferred Options Consultation - Land at Stratford Road, Warwick

Representation ID: 67314

Received: 21/08/2014

Respondent: Katie Whell

Representation Summary:

Seeing increased interest in businesses. Would lose employment land in favour of Gypsy and Traveller site which is ludicrous based on current market.

Full text:

I have just been informed about the above and the fact that we are now one of 3 locations being considered for this location. This is very concerning to us. We built Pure Offices less than a year ago (it opened in October) and are currently 75% occupied and this is rapidly growing (to give you an idea, we generally assume a centre will be 50% occupied after year 1 and 85% after year 2). We have another centre down the road in Leamington and this is nearly 100% let. Businesses seem to be flocking to the town, especially international start-ups. We feel very positive about employment for the town and the need for more business premises and yet we seem to be loosing employment land in favour of a gypsy and traveller site which seems ludicrous based on the current market we are witnessing. Warwick is our fastest growing centre in terms of occupancy, this is out of 14 centres located throughout the UK. In our eyes new business moving to the town is booming and we are really excited about the prospects for the centre. Being so well located to the M40 is our key selling point and why the centre is so popular. I appreciate that in recent years there may have been less interest in the employment land in this location from developers and owner occupiers but I do feel we are seeing a shift and shouldn't therefore loose any employment land in this key location.