Bristol & Bath, one of the Europe’s top investment hotspots and the UK’s fastest-growing core city region, is to present major opportunities for investment to a global audience at a London showcase this week.
Speakers from Big Four professional services firm PwC, leading property consultancy JLL and multinational development company Skanska will join mayor of Bristol, George Ferguson, in putting forward the investment case for Bristol & Bath, one of the most dynamic and progressive regions in the UK, with a focus on 70 hectares of development potential in the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone (BTQEZ).
The event comes after the recent announcement that Government funding of around £4 million has been secured for Engine Shed 2. This project is an opportunity to build on the phenomenal success of Engine Shed, a flexible and inspiring business hub that has housed major inward investment successes such as Somo and Just Eat on their arrival in Bristol.
The Investment Showcase will take place in London on the evening of Thursday, February 19, in partnership with leading UK law firm, Burges Salmon, major professional services firm, PwC, inward investment agency Invest Bristol & Bath, and leading banking and financial services player, Royal Bank of Scotland. Last year, it was announced that PwC would move into 2 Glass Wharf in Temple Quarter, Bristol, the first major speculative office development outside London to be built post-2008, while Skanska is behind the 66 Queen Square, the company’s first UK commercial development project in the city.
Matthew Cross, head of inward investment at Invest Bristol & Bath, said: “Demand has been boosted by the region’s world-class reputation for creative and digital production, high tech, low carbon, aerospace and advanced engineering, as well as its thriving financial and professional services sector, one of the largest in the UK. Named the only fast-growing, globally-significant tech cluster in the UK outside London by Centre for Cities/McKinsey & Co, the region was recently chosen to host a testbed for cutting-edge Future Cities technology, including driverless cars, so it is no surprise that businesses in this industry are showing high levels of interest in investing in the region.”
Colin Ligman, head of real estate at Burges Salmon, said: “We are delighted to be hosting this event in our London office. It offers a fantastic opportunity for Bristol & Bath to showcase the region’s investment proposition to an audience of national and international investors.”
At the heart of the Enterprise Zone is the electrification of the Great Western Railway line, one of the largest rail infrastructure projects currently underway in the UK. Journey times to London to the region will be cut by 20 minutes, while frequency and capacity will be increase. The line will be complete by 2018.
The £700m investment will include the transformation of the Temple Meads station, which will generate a diverse array of commercial, residential and leisure investment opportunities. Aligned to the station will be the spectacular new 12,000 Bristol Arena, a £90m investment by Bristol City Council and currently the subject of an international design competition led by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Temple Quarter has already proven itself as a highly attractive investment proposition. Since 2012, it has created more than 1,000 jobs. Interest from inward investors suggest a further 4,000 jobs could be added to the Enterprise Zone in the coming three years.
Paul Coates, managing director for real estate at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be backing this event which will throw the spotlight on the excellent opportunities on offer across Bristol and Bath. RBS has dedicated real estate specialists supporting our investor and developer clients from SMEs through to the listed plcs across the asset class both those based in the region and those investing in it from further afield.”