The South West’s largest distributor of medical devices has become the first company to buy into the “3 Truro” work zone at Threemilestone – with other firms in the wings to claim their part of a £5.5 million concept set to revolutionise ‘out of town’ working.
‘3 Truro’ is the first speculative employment-space development in the Truro area in almost two decades – and CJ Medical will be expanding into their 200 square metres of it by the end of the year.
The high quality of 3 Truro – with its flexible space, cool community feel, wi-fied café, landscaped grounds and improved access – has been made possible by backing of more than £3 million from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme.
When completed the new land-mark buildings of office and hybrid industrial space – combining great design with the highest BREEAM eco-credentials – are forecast to provide for more than 130 jobs across 3,419 square metres of work space.
CJ Medical is a Cornwall-registered company which for fourteen years has been supplying the UK NHS and private hospital sector with surgical instruments and implants. The firm currently employs 17 people within its UK operation which, along with its international platforms, are expanding and growing with an initial focus in India. The company also facilitates the training of surgeons in innovative techniques across the UK including the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust.
“The space we’ve chosen to purchase at 3 Truro exactly fits our needs and is ideal to serve our UK expansion,” says Managing Director Charles Reynolds. “We’ll have all the benefits of being just a couple of minutes from the A30 and ten minutes from Truro which is perfect for our transport requirements – but it’ll also be an appealing place to work too.
“It’s a rarity to be able to buy space like this and it will enable us to expand our current Cornwall-based workforce from seven to eleven by 2015. We’ve been looking for the right place for five years and there’s plenty to rent but for sound investment reasons it makes much more sense for us to buy.”
The 3 Truro concept has been devised by Walker Threemilestone and the Cornish team at property specialists Vickery Holman following in-depth research and consultation on what growing businesses need and want.
Landscaped grounds and street art will create the “oasis” which will embellish the surrounding countryside rather than creating a blot. Improved road access and parking will make lives easier for commuters – although 3 Truro’s community of workers will benefit from proximity to the Truro Park and Ride and a bank of secure bike stores.
“We are so pleased that ambitious, international businesses like CJ Medical really “get” what we are doing here at 3 Truro – and none of it would have been possible without the support of the ERDF Convergence team,” says Maureen Walker, owner and co-developer of the site.
“Building the real quality required for Cornwall’s future knowledge economy in today’s market would simply not be viable without that support – that’s why developments like ours are so rare.”
Vickery Holman’s Greg Oldrieve agrees: “We’re speculating that the quality and style of our “3 Truro” build is going to prove very popular in the future. But the costs of building that quality is not currently reflected in the market values of the finished buildings, hence the need for the ERDF grant that bridges the gap between cost and value – making it viable.
“We believe the flexible workspaces in 3 Truro will fetch premium values in the future which is why they represent such a great investment now.”
