The Bexhill Enterprise Park was conceived as part of a drive to create a major urban extension to Bexhill in East Sussex, to the north-east of the town.
The extended area is accessed by a new road, Combe Valley Way, which links it to Hastings and, beyond that, London and Kent. It will include hundreds of homes to support the growing local population – many already built or underway.
Our role has been to create an enterprise park there – just two miles from Bexhill town centre, rail station and seafront – to foster a thriving new business community and provide local jobs.
Our first action was to develop Glovers House, a 25,000 sq ft contemporary office building, as well as a road leading into the business park from the town, connecting through to Combe Valley Way, and opening up land for new homes and a medical facility.
Even before we’d completed it, Glovers House was taken in its entirety as an HQ for Park Holidays UK, one of the nation’s largest holiday park operators, who moved in with 90 employees and space to grow.
High Weald House
Our next move was to develop High Weald House, a 25,000 sq ft, eco-friendly, multi-occupier business centre.
We finished it just in time for Covid to hit, but despite this, it has attracted a wide range of occupiers – from tax advisors Acuity Professional to internet company CityFibre, medicolegal specialists Expert In Mind, recruiters WeComm, tech support firm Factory Internet, charity Little Gate and insurers NBS Underwriting and Green Insurance. SpaMedica has also moved in, providing NHS cataract surgery and other eye treatments from a large clinic on the ground floor.
High Weald House is now 66% occupied, with the remaining spaces under offer – on which I might have more news in my next update.
What’s next?
While High Weald House nears full occupation, the Bexhill Enterprise Park is entering the next phase of its evolution.
We haven’t actively marketed the land surrounding the two buildings to date because we’d been waiting for the necessary utilities to be provided. But that changes now, with – as the final step – Southern Water busy installing a pipeline and pumping stations to provide mains foul drainage to all the commercial and residential sites in the area.
This means we can now offer high-quality development sites, which can support up to 220,000 sq ft of premises, as freehold, serviced plots for companies to develop their own bespoke facilities.
While the smallest sites – labelled Plots 3 and 6 in the drawing – are already under offer, we have a site next to High Weald House (Plot 5) with detailed planning permission in place for another 25,000 sq ft office property. Our agents are inviting pre-let or pre-sale enquiries, and we could also consider alternative uses.
Opposite High Weald House is a roadside site which we’ve sold to Marstons for a pub, restaurant and hotel.
Plots 7 and 8 form our largest site, spanning almost 16 acres and available immediately for a wide variety of employment uses. We’re greatly looking forward to seeing this next phase of the Bexhill Enterprise Park unfold and the new business community continuing to grow.
Article written by Chris Broome, property director, Sea Change Sussex
Find out more at www.seachangesussex.co.uk.
