Developer submits plans for completion of business park

Clowes Developments has put forward plans to complete a business park in Derbyshire, which will include a new innovation centre.

Dove Valley Park Ltd, a subsidiary of Clowes, and IMA Architects, have submitted proposals to South Derbyshire District Council, which would result in the completion of Dove Valley Park, at Foston.

The plans form the eastern part of the major 200-acre employment site on the A50 that is already home to occupiers including JCB, Top Hat, Futaba and GXO.

If approved, it would see the 35.29 acre site developed to create four units, providing 54,500 square metres of employment space.

A new innovation centre, developed in consultation with the University of Derby, would also be created.

Marc Freeman, director at Clowes Developments, said: “There is significant demand across the East Midlands for industrial space and our plans for the completion of Dove Valley Park will deliver high quality units for businesses in South Derbyshire.

“Since its inception in the 1990s, Dove Valley Park has thrived and brought economic benefits to the area, so we are excited about the prospect of completing the site and creating hundreds of new jobs for local people.”

The innovation centre will serve as a central hub for all businesses in the local vicinity.

The aim is to draw people together and provide spaces for gatherings, along with informal meeting space and access to external areas.

It will also serve as a space for start-up businesses to begin.

The application follows hot on the heels of Terinex Flexibles officially cutting the ribbon on its new 46,000 sq ft facility at Dove Valley Park.

Believed to be the UK’s first net zero CO2 rated building to house a flexographic printing facility, it is located on a new three-acre site at the business park.

The factory and office building was recently opened by Frank McArdle, the retired chief executive of South Derbyshire District Council.

Parent company, OGM Holdings Group, has invested over £10m in the new facility which is more than double the size of the original Terinex Flexibles factory that was located in Ripley.

Paul Wightman, group managing director at OGM Holdings Group, said: “We are proud to have created a state-of-the-art facility in terms of energy efficiency.

“As well as the fabric and services of the building, we are investing in efficient plant equipment and other energy saving devices.

“Being an environmentally conscious business is no longer enough. We believe achieving demonstrable 30% reductions in the carbon footprint of our group factories by 2025 is now mandatory.”