Enterprise Zone announcement will fast-track £35 million Digital Plaza

Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA) is accelerating the timescales for developing its £35 million Digital Plaza, following Government approval of the designation of the site within the LEP’s Enterprise Zone.

A joint venture partner is currently being sought for the development. The Science Park – which is wholly owned by Birmingham City Council – is targeting to conclude the selection process by the end of 2011. However, the Enterprise Zone designation will see BSPA fast-track the timescales for the development, with a planning application now anticipated for spring 2012. Subject to planning, construction work could commence speculatively as early as September 2012. 

Dr David Hardman MBE, CEO of Birmingham Science Park Aston said: “Since announcing plans for the £35 million Digital Plaza earlier this year, we have been overwhelmed with the response from prospective joint venture partners, as well as potential future occupiers. This development is so greatly needed as a beacon of Birmingham’s innovation agenda.

“We are confident of being able to deliver the first phase of the Digital Plaza speculatively, which is unheard of in this market. The Enterprise Zone designation will help to make this a reality.” 

The Digital Plaza will be developed next to the Park’s Faraday Wharf building. It will comprise four state of the art buildings, specifically designed for the new generation of hi-tech companies. While the nature of the work in the hi-tech and digital gaming industry typically lends itself to people working from home, BSPA’s thriving mix of tenants strongly advocate that businesses can grow more effectively working from a specialist hub environment.

The four proposed Digital Plaza buildings will provide a total gross area of over 100,000 sq ft of space, with the first building – iCentrum^TM – expected to be circa 40,000 sq ft. The plans envisage four new buildings arranged around a new plaza to be developed on the land fronting on to Holt Street. There are plans for three further buildings, offering more hi-tech flexible workspace.

Over 37,000 sq ft of business space has been let across the 14 acre BSPA estate over the past 18 months. Faraday Wharf, which incorporates an extensive suite of meeting and conference rooms – as well as the Park’s nationally acclaimed Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) incubation centre – is now over 95 per cent let, with 17,684 sq ft of space let to Small to Medium sized Enterprises.                                                                                                                                                                                         

Cllr Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council and chairman of Birmingham Science Park Aston comments: “We are driving forward with our business strategy to make Birmingham Science Park Aston a world-leading science park, fit for 2020 and beyond. Many of our initiatives and partnerships do not rely on developing new buildings at the Park, but we need to respond to tenants’ needs and the considerable uptake in space here in the past 12 months.

“In order to remain competitive, we must create buildings which are specifically designed for companies in the hi-tech and digital gaming sectors and for the digitally savvy founders of these ventures. As the Prime Minister has stated in his announcement about Enterprise Zones, it is these knowledge-based businesses which have the potential for high growth and will be a key factor in driving our economy out of recession.”

BSPA’s internet connection is unrivalled across the country; UK Broadband is implementing a 4G trial at the Park; and together with Cisco, JANET and the University of Warwick, BSPA has become the UK’s first Science Park Without Walls.