Hereford Enterprise Zone is bidding for £2.5 million of Government funding to build a new base for defence and security sector companies locating on Skylon Park.
The Zone wants to develop The Fuse House, which will have office and workshop unit space, on the 72-hectare site. It is expected that the development will see an additional 66 jobs created at Skylon Park.
The zone’s application to the Enterprise Zone Capital Grant Fund, ‘Building Foundations for Growth’, is currently being considered by the Department for Communities and Local Government which is administering the fund, with the zone expecting to hear if it’s been shortlisted by January 2014.
The Hereford Enterprise Zone is seeking a total of £2.449m from the fund to proceed with the expansion project, and if successful jobs are guaranteed on site by 2015.
Detailing the plans behind the bid, Mark Pearce Managing Director at Skylon Park, said: “Being able to proceed with the development of the Fuse House project, which will offer 14,000 sq.ft of additional space, will enable us to respond to unsatisfied demand from defence and security related industries for efficient new work space within the Hereford Enterprise Zone. We are specifically targeting businesses in these areas in line with our original application to Government for Enterprise Zone status.
“We believe that, if awarded, the grant will allow us to better meet the needs of new and existing defence and security firms both here in the UK and those from overseas, as well as ensure that a brown field site is being effectively reused.”
Earlier this year, an international campaign was launched by Hereford Enterprise Zone that targeted hundreds of companies working in the C4ISTAR specialism of the sector, (Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Information/Intelligence, Surveillance and Targeting), Biometrics and Cyber Security, and Defence Support Equipment.
Herefordshire is already home to more than 85 companies operating in the defence and security sector, and demand since the beginning of the campaign for rented accommodation of the kind detailed in the bid application has since been higher than the zone can currently fulfil.
Mr Pearce added: “By providing appropriate workspace for defence and security businesses for rent it will help kick start a key business priority for the Zone, and provide a focus and catalyst for that emerging business cluster.
“It will also help raise the profile of the Zone nationally and internationally in this field – it can be used to firm up discussions with prospective investors and stimulate interest in others as well as raise the profile and trading prospects of relocating and new companies.”