Milton Keynes the growth centre

Milton Keynes continues to be one of the liveliest places in the country for commercial property with a steady flow of deals. It remains an attractive place for new investment with one of the largest recently being Aviva Investors funding a 22,296 sq.metres (240,000 sq.ft.) retail park which will be anchored by a large Marks & Spencer store.

The development will be around the Milton Keynes football stadium with a planned completion in 2012. The deal has been transacted by the club’s Chairman Pete Winkelman who plans to spend some of the money on expanding the stadium seating capacity. The strong point about Milton Keynes is the number of companies that are growing organically and adding to their properties. For example, Pfeiffer Vacuum has satisfied its space requirements at 16 Plover Close in the nearby Newport Pagnell, which benefits from the performance of Milton Keynes. Douglas Duff acted for the UK subsidiary of the German company whose Peter Knight said: “The new premises are ideal and convenient in being close to where we were well established.”

Also at Newport Pagnell, Buck-Biz is to transform a former food manufacturing plant on a 3.5 acre site into a home for a variety of offices and industrial units for over 70 medium sized businesses. Planning permission has been granted by Milton Keynes Council, which includes a new access road. Joe Muscat of Buck-Biz, which operates seven business centres across the area, said: “Even before completion of the Interchange Business Centre we have a number of companies planning to move in.”

One of the largest transactions in MK is the British Standards Institution (BSI) leasing 5,202 sq.metres (56,000 sq.ft.) at Solaris Court on a 15 year lease from the owner Arab Investments. BSI’s Chief Executive, Howard Kerr, commented: “The new premises will provide our staff with a very modern and efficient environment. We have ambitious growth prospects and see this move as a catalyst for realising this.” BSI will move staff in from other properties in MK and Hemel Hempstead.

One sign that the pressure of the recession is easing is that two major towns are likely to get major new shopping facilities. Basildon Council is pushing ahead with the big mixed use scheme in the town centre now that the Barratt/Bowden Wilson joint venture has been appointed to carry it out. This will have 51,979 sq.metres (559,520 sq.ft.) of retailing and leisure and slightly more than that for offices. There will also be 1,900 residential units together with enhanced civic facilities and infrastructure improvements.

A spokesman for the developers said: “Basildon is a good place to invest, with great potential for growth.” In Luton, British Land is expected to take over the stalled £200 million PowerCourt retail development from Ballymore, which owns around 40% of the site, the rest being with the council and the Environment Agency. The plan is expected to have 46,450 sq.metres (500,000 sq.ft.) of retailing and 200 homes.