Steve Winterflood i54 - Manufacturing, Export Led, Major Investment outside of London
Key topics for today; i54 Overview and Aims i54 History i54 Joint Venture i54 Contracts and works
Overview and aims are being achieved by; A unique and bold Joint Venture Partnership between three Local Authorities, Staffordshire County Council, Wolverhampton City Council and South Staffordshire Council 40 million investment from SCC & WCC, to be paid back through South Staffs Council future business rates collection Construction of a dedicated motorway junction which secured the major investment opportunities Section 6 Agreement secured by Staffordshire CC
HOW DID WE GET HERE 1
History 226 acre (gross) site previously owned by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) who purchased the land in the early 2000s. Planning permission for employment uses was granted in 2007, with a part of the site being designated as a Regional Investment Site to look to attract a large manufacturing company. Site looks to accommodate 235,000 sq m of floorspace. Under the planning consent only 15,000 sq m can access/egress on to i54 from Wobaston Road - the main access was always to be a junction on to the M54. By the time the abolition of AWM was announced in June 2010, to be effective from March 2012, the junction had not been delivered.
With the confirmed abolition of AWM, Staffordshire County Council showed an interest in taking on the project, although at that stage there was no proposal to carry out the junction works. In March 2011, AWM advised that there was a major enquiry considering i54, alongside other sites both in the UK and abroad from a long list of over 100 sites. High level talks began between SCC, SSC & WCC which lead to an agreement for SCC & WCC to act as 50/50 Joint Venture partners.
In late Spring 2011, the Councils were told that the UK short list was down to 2 and later still we were told the global short list was down to 2; i54 and a Tata owned site in India. First direct engagement with JLR and their solicitors got underway in early May 2011. It was evident that our offer was diminished, in that the delivery of the junction would be in the hands of Highways Agency (HA), who were not a direct member of the Joint Venture.
Lobbying of the Minister for Transport, through the Stoke & Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership lead to HA agreeing that Staffordshire County Council could undertake the junction works under a Section 6 Agreement, bringing the delivery of the works far more under the control of the Local Authorities and thereby strengthening the offer to JLR. Talks with JLR also brought into the equation the requirement to carry out major earthworks. These were at that time at financial risk to the Councils. The earthworks were to create the plateaus for the new factories. These were called the Part A works. In August 2011, the Enterprise Zone for the Black Country, which included the i54 site, was announced.
On 19 September 2011, JLR announced that i54 was their preferred site for their 350 million low emissions engine plant. This has since increased to 500million. Contracts were exchanged with JLR in March 2012, immediately following our exchange with Home and Communities Agency, who were the interim owners of i54. The pull to this site was the attractive location of the site near to transport networks and the skilled workforce near by. Also, AWM had already spent 40million on the site prior to the junction extension works, on reclamation, a spine road, landscaping and had attracted Moog & Eurofins.
Summary of Fundamental Points: i54 has become the home of JLR s 500m low emission engine plant. Moog and Eurofins moved to i54 in 2011 becoming operational in 2012 safeguarding 550 jobs. ISP moved to i54. They brought 85 existing employees with future expansion and more job creation planned. To date 600m total investment in the site, 2000 jobs created or safeguarded plus many thousands more in the wider supply chain. A unique opportunity for companies to invest in this premium development site. The partner Councils are working together to maximise supply chain opportunities.
Summary of Fundamental Points: Significant step forward for the local economy in Staffordshire and Wolverhampton; represents a long term investment in the local community. Greatly enhances the prospects for Staffordshire and Wolverhampton, creating jobs and attracting millions of pounds of investment. The investment is not solely financial it is also about education, training and local communities too. Already, a series of bespoke educational activities have been developed for local schools and colleges, in partnership with JLR and available on the i54 site, to inspire the engineers of tomorrow. The partner Councils are supporting skills development across the region, encouraging apprenticeship opportunities and helping to create a skilled local workforce. http://youtu.be/tovi6sgruqg
QUOTES Tim James, Property Director of Jaguar Land Rover, said this is a truly exciting part of our growth plans and a major commitment for our company. Stuart McLachlan, MOOG Business Unit General Manager, added we now have a first class facility which will allow us to support and build on our market leading position in Europe and globally. i54 ticks all the boxes."
GENERAL SITE LAYOUT
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