The West Country
Gloucester’s Game-changer: The Forum, a Pioneering, Sustainable Development that’s Revitalising the City Centre
The Forum is one of Gloucester’s most exciting developments, due for completion later this year. It is part of the £200m regeneration of the city centre, led by Gloucester City Council, who are working in partnership with Reef Group to deliver the site.
The Forum will provide Grade A office space for cutting-edge businesses and is set
to
elevate Gloucester’s position as a business and technology hub in the heart of the South West region.
News of breaching the 1.5°C for the first full year demonstrates the critical need to consider the environment in construction and operations for business and leisure sites. The Forum has been designed and built with the environment front of mind.
It’s not just the planet that will benefit from its greener operations; businesses’ budgets will too.
Peter Langly-Smith, Reef development director at The Forum explains more.
“Put simply, The Forum is the choice for businesses looking to work in a collaborative and yet environmentally responsible manner, not just now but for the years to come.
“The Forum will be built to a BREEAM rating of Excellent, have an EPC A rating and will be net- zero carbon in operation.
“The supply of electricity is completely produced via renewable methods including solar rooftop panels, and its passive design means that demand for energy will be low across the entire space.
“Fit-out costs are reduced, thanks to the base build aesthetic and operational design, which requires no ceiling, floor or wall finishes. Not only does this mean launch costs will be cheaper for businesses joining The Forum. It means that the embodied carbon is set to be reduced, too.
“The Forum is built with a focus on the future. The office space uses smart building technologies and can adapt according to the needs of companies as their teams grow and develop. Mixed-mode ventilation will reduce the energy required for cooling and associated costs by as much as 60% annually.
“The site is built to encourage greener commuting. Positioned at the heart of the Gloucester transport hub, The Forum encourages public transport as a viable commuting choice. For those who need to drive, the 398-space car park will include 39 electric vehicle charging points. E-mobility and bike parking facilities will make a cycling commute easy for employees. What is more, The Forum’s car park will be encapsulated within the largest green wall in the South West, with over 8,500 sq ft of evergreen foliage across the site.
“It’s an enviable space for any business looking to set roots in the South West. Seventy per cent of the site has already been pre-let ahead of completion. Get in touch to discuss further.”
The Cotswolds’ Improving Landscape for Business
The Cotswolds may be known for its rolling hills and chocolate box villages, but in recent years – since adopting a new Green Economic Growth Strategy – the area has become something of a powerhouse of business and innovation.
Last year, the Royal Agricultural University, based in Cirencester, unveiled plans for a £100 million ‘Innovation Village’ at its campus, aimed at tackling the twin challenges of climate change and food security. A planning application is expected to be lodged with Cotswold District Council in the next few months.
Just down the road at Cotswold Airport, in Kemble, a hub for sustainable aviation is gathering momentum, led by ZeroAvia, which is developing a hydrogen powertrain for aircraft. They relocated to Cotswold Airport in 2021 with just 10 staff and now have a headcount of around 200. The airport is also the testing base for Vertical Aerospace and their fledgling electric flying taxi. Cirencester’s attractiveness as a location for business will be enhanced by the completion of the £460 million A417 ‘Missing Link’ road project, linking the M4 and M5, due to open in late 2026.
Cyber and digital is more normally associated with GCHQ at Cheltenham than the Cotswolds, but the growth in this sector means that the ripple
50
effect spreads across Gloucestershire. Cirencester College is home to the £5 million Applied Digital Skills Centre and there are lots of successful digital businesses operating from the Cotswolds, ranging from the fast-growing cyber security specialist Core To Cloud, to games developers Neon Play and breastfeeding app creator Anya.
The success of the wider economy feeds into the health of our town centres.
Cirencester, the largest Cotswold town, has seen its town centre vacancy rate drop from 11% to just over 5% since the end of the pandemic. The largest vacant unit – the former House of Fraser store which closed in 2019 – is being taken over by a local social enterprise to be a new style of department store for the circular economy.
At the other end of the Cotswolds, Chipping Campden is home to Campden BRI – a membership-based food and drink innovation and research organisation, while Moreton-in-Marsh hosts the Fire Service College.
New employment sites are coming forward in the district, including 9 hectares at The Steadings – a major new development on the edge of Cirencester. The Cotswolds isn’t just an attractive area in the physical sense, it’s an attractive location for business too.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2024
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