£10m business park secures first development five years after completion

Nation.Cymru staff

A Welsh Government-funded business park that has stood largely empty since it was completed almost five years ago has secured its first development.

Brocastle Employment Park, near Bridgend, will see its first industrial unit built after developer Hillwood, in partnership with Maple Grove Developments (Deeside Regeneration), agreed terms with the Welsh Government to develop a speculative industrial building on the site.

The 57,486 sq ft unit will be constructed on a 4.85-acre plot and will be the first advanced-build development at the 116-acre employment park.

Infrastructure for Brocastle was completed in November 2021 following an investment of more than £10 million from the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund. The scheme created nine serviced development plots intended to attract industrial and logistics businesses and was expected to support thousands of jobs.

Despite that investment, the site has remained unoccupied, with roads, pavements and utilities installed but no businesses moving in.

The new development is intended to kickstart wider investment across the park. Construction is due to begin early next year, with the unit expected to be ready for occupation in 2027.

Bob Tattrie, managing director of Hillwood, said: “We are excited to be bringing forward a further advanced-build industrial scheme in South Wales, which suffers from a lack of Grade A industrial accommodation.”

The park has outline planning consent for manufacturing and industrial uses, with the new unit expected to be marketed to manufacturing businesses.

Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Adam Price said the project supported the Welsh Government’s ambition to improve Wales’ economic performance.

He said: “Developing modern employment sites and premises which provide investment-ready platforms is a key part of the new Welsh Government’s mission to halve Wales’s productivity gap with the UK average.

“Such sites support businesses to plan and invest with confidence, and this development provides important opportunities for both new investment into Wales and for existing Welsh businesses to grow.”

The announcement marks a significant milestone for the business park, which had faced questions over its future after remaining vacant for several years.

‘substantial stimulus’

When the site opened in 2021, then economy minister Vaughan Gething said the investment would provide a “substantial stimulus to employment opportunities” and expressed confidence it would create many new jobs.

Last year, the Welsh Government said it remained confident Brocastle would eventually attract investment, revealing it was in negotiations over two of the site’s nine plots while continuing to market the remaining land.

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