Report by Ian Harman, a director of commercial property agent Prop-Search.
IT may be just over 80 years since Corby – then a small village with a population of 1,500 – drew workers from all over the country with the explosion of the steel industry. But while that trade may be a distant memory, the town still remains the fastest growing place in England.
According to figures from the Land Registry, Corby has had the highest proportion of new-home sales in any area in England and Wales over the past two decades.
This trend does look set to continue, with the last three years alone delivering a further 1,445 new homes for the town.
Alongside building new homes, industry in the town has continued to grow apace, supported by falling unemployment figures, record company net growth – above the UK average – and record new company registrations. The town has also received a £35 million investment with the opening of the A43 Corby link road – a new 6.5km dual-carriageway to the south-east of the town, connecting the A6003 with the A43 at the Stanion roundabout, which helps reduce town centre traffic flow.
Corby was also granted assisted area status last year, which could further boost jobs and growth. The new status makes local businesses eligible to bid for additional funding and tax breaks to create jobs and invest in new premises and/or machinery. The eligible wards are Central, East, Rowlett, Shire Lodge, Stanion and Corby Village, Weldon and Gretton wards.
2015 will see a slow but gradual return to speculative development, albeit within the industrial/distribution sector. Shortly, the first sods are expected to be cut on two separate schemes on the Oakley Hay Industrial Estate, with the construction of a warehouse unit at Tripark and two units at Saxon 26. The largest unit scheduled for speculative construction is on Clowes Development’s Centrix scheme at Southern Gateway.
Stock levels of available industrial stock have slowly depleted since the onset of difficult economic times, which saw an impromptu end of speculative new build schemes. However, continued take-up of premises from companies such as the global office supplies company Staples, which at the end of last year announced is was to open in the town – creating 170 new jobs – have not helped to improve dwindling levels of existing stock. During this year, Staples will be moving into a warehouse off Mitchell Road.
An ad campaign last summer successfully attracted further new businesses to the area. Bluebird Performance Engineering is moving to Rockingham where it will have access to unrivalled test facilities, and Global Composites Recycling Solutions, which recycles fibreglass, is also moving into the town, predicting more than 250 jobs by 2017.
Existing industrial businesses in the town have also witnessed growth and created jobs. About 60 new jobs have been announced at the town’s Golden Wonder factory, after the owner’s multi-million pound investment in the plant – showing the strength of the location economically, especially when it comes to the potential local workforce.
Further jobs could be created this year as Aldi begins consultation on building a store on land off Saxon Way West. It is believed this could lead to 40 jobs. Also, work on Corby’s new 900-seat cinema – on the former Tresham College site – is progressing well towards opening this spring. The new venue will be the fourth for Savoy Cinemas, a Nottingham based independent chain – with the scheme, owned by Mulberry Developments, expected to also attract national restaurant operators.
A retail unit in the pedestrianised area of Spencer Court, off Queens Square in the town centre, opened before Christmas for Spanish perfume specialist, Equivalenza. The company has 500 stores in mainland Europe and opened one in Kettering in 2014.
The biggest news is that an off-market sale of Willow Place has been agreed. It is understood that Helical Bar is selling the 146 shopping centre to Europa Capital and Sovereign Land for £75million. Willow Place reportedly attracts more than 160,000 visitors a week and has plans to add a further 20,000 sq ft of retailing by 2016.
As the population of Corby continues to rise, enterprise areas will maintain the town as a base for businesses, leading the way in high performance technologies, creative industries and the green economy. The town’s growth ambitions will result in increased traffic movement and this will need to be managed to help Corby retain its economic attractiveness.