FEATURE Wrest Park
Room to adapt, whatever the future holds
For any business adapting to new ways of working, managed offi ce space can provide a stress-free solution. David Taylor, Group Estates Manager at Wrest Park Enterprise in Silsoe, explains how recent expansion and development has been put to full use to fi ll a growing need for fl exibility and agility.
What was the vision for the site at the start of this phase of development? It goes back to 10 years ago when Wrest Park Ltd bought the former agricultural college site at Silsoe. T e 28-acre site included 40 buildings of various sizes, most of which were turned into workshops and warehouses, but we converted one, Enterprise House, into managed offi ce space. It was clear then that fl exible, no-fi xed-term leases were popular and within a short space of time, a second building, Capability House, underwent development and opened to provide extra space. T ere was always further scope for expansion and we added another purpose-built facility, Endeavour House, a couple of years later. Two further adjacent buildings were earmarked for the future, and those
10 ALL THINGS BUSINESS
ideas have taken shape over the past couple of years, and we fi nally saw them both open at the end of last year.
Talk us through what that work will mean to Wrest Park Enterprise? When it fi rst opened, Enterprise House provided 10,000 square feet of offi ce space ranging in size from single desk offi ces to larger ones that would take up to 10 desks. Capability House then added 20,000 square feet of space, made up of single offi ces, larger suites for up to 40 desks, meeting rooms, a coff ee shop and breakout areas. Endeavour House was originally 5,000 square
feet and the Phase 1 extension in late 2020 gave us another 5,000 square feet, within which 15 of the 17 offi ces are already occupied. T e Phase 2 extension to Enterprise House in
early 2021 has 7,000 square feet off ering potential for another 16 offi ces and six individual studios. Obviously, we had doubts about how quickly
we’d see the units fi ll up, given the challenges that businesses have been facing, but the response has been amazing. We’ve gradually grown to almost fi ve times our original size, which is remarkable.
Describe the ‘typical’ tenant T ere really is no such thing as a typical Wrest Park tenant. We have everything from one-man bands to larger companies, including those that have
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