Business Park OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY Vail Williams WINNER Milton Park
James Dipple collects the award from David Thomas (left) of sponsor Vail Williams and Jeremy Vine (right)
The first category award of the evening involved a major feature of the Thames Valley property world – business parks.
The judges were looking for business parks that maintained high occupancy levels, consistently received good feedback from tenants, had a reputation for customer service, and maybe offered some exciting initiatives during 2013.
The three shortlisted finalists were: Howbery Business Park, Milton Park and Slough Trading Estate.
Howbery Business Park on the banks of the Thames near Wallingford is renowned as the UK’s first solar-powered business park, so its ‘green’ environmental credentials are evident. However, positive feedback from tenants and a sense of community were highlights of this nomination.
Howbery, privately owned by HR Wallingford, is a 70-acre mix of traditional and ambitious new architecture. Park buildings have views across farmland and the Chilterns, and are sited in the grounds of a former manor house built c.1850, which now offers choices of hospitality, meetings, training and conference facilities.
Milton Park near Abingdon, has a great reputation for customer service, on-site amenities, and business-to-business engagement. One tenant said: “Milton Park
www.businessmag.co.uk
is a real community and great place at so many levels. The MEPC team is responsive and good at thinking outside the box.”
Owned and managed by MEPC for 30 years, and also described as a park with “great spirit”, it is home to over 200 businesses, employing 7,000 people. It had 96% occupancy in 2013. It is also part of the Thames Valley’s only Enterprise Zone, and a flagship development for Oxfordshire’s growing science and technology economy.
Slough Trading Estate is the world’s first trading estate, and still a Thames Valley landmark development, with lots of good initiatives in recent months – such as, the new Enterprise Quarter, designed for start- up and young businesses, and Slough Aspire, designed as a first port of call for training needs for businesses and the wider community. As the largest business park of its kind in Europe under single private ownership, SEGRO’s estate covers 486 acres and is home to 400 companies and 17,000 people. It is also a key part of the Thames Valley economy, and over the past 12 months secured 44 new leases totaling over 285,000 sq ft.
David Thomas, partner in business space at leading real estate adviser Vail Williams which has nine UK offices, was welcomed to the stage to announce the winner
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2014
and present the first ever Thames Valley Property Award trophy to Milton Park.
When asked by Jeremy Vine for the ‘winning recipe’, James Dipple, CEO of MEPC which owns Milton Park put the win down to the “fantastic group of people who work for me.”
Dipple added: “This award is a fantastic reflection of the service our tenants receive, the investment MEPC has put into the estate and the general community ambiance – the fact that people like coming to work at Milton Park.
“We were lucky enough in 2011 to get Enterprise Zone status on the park and that was an important kickstart and incentive to drive forward our development projects. We have built 25,000 sq ft of small industrial units for startups, which all let very quickly, and established a new Innovation Centre for 45 companies.
“This recognition is great for our business but it is a reflection of what we do every day of the week, giving our customers what they want and providing great space for companies to work from and succeed.”
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