ONE of the region’s fastest growing business parks has secured its biggest private sector tenant.
Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL) has chosen Spectrum Business Park in Seaham as the base for its Framework Partnerships, which sees a number of organisations working together to deliver vital water infrastructure projects across the region.
NWL is moving into Spectrum 5 and will accommodate two of the building’s three floors, occupying 27,000 sq ft of prime office space.
Once finished, the offices will house around 200 highly skilled employees including Northumbria Water staff and NWL’s framework partners Esh/MWH, Interserve and MMB, who all deliver the company’s large infrastructure projects.
Paul Wellstead, the property developer of Spectrum Business Park, said: “Securing Northumbrian Water as our newest tenant is a real coup for Spectrum Business Park and demonstrates just how far the park has come since I started creating my vision over 10 years ago.
“It’s also testament to the improvements which are evident, and the investment made, across Seaham, which is now home to some of the region’s fastest growing public and private sector companies.
“My hope is that having Northumbrian Water occupy the top two floors of Spectrum 5 will generate interest from some of its partners, and the remaining floor will quickly become occupied.”
NWL chose Spectrum Business Park, which is also home to Durham County Council, East Durham Business Service, Great Annual Savings Company, BE Group and County Durham Housing Group, because of its convenient location, transport links and excellent parking facilities.
John McGovern, Head of Asset Delivery at Northumbrian Water, said: “This move will create one central hub for our infrastructure teams and gives us the opportunity to work closer with our framework partners under one roof. Moving into Spectrum 5 will strengthen the collaborative working relationships we have and ultimately help deliver an unrivalled service to all our customers.
“After looking at a number of locations around the North East, we felt Spectrum Business Park ticked all the boxes in terms of location, quality of office space, transport links and parking, which were all major influencing factors given how many people will be based here.”
Robert Patterson, head of agency at Sanderson Weatherall, who were the agents on the property, said, “We are delighted to have assisted Northumbrian Water with their office move. Spectrum Business Park is proving to be one of the most desirable places to work in the North East and following this significant letting it is great to see the park over 75 per cent occupied.”
The Northumbrian Water announcement comes just months after Hull-based ResQ moved onto Spectrum.
The company has already recruited 250 people with 250 jobs in the pipeline, with their plan to eventually house a 1,200 seat contact centre at Spectrum.
Paul Wellstead added: “The park is filling up very quickly and we now only have one fully unoccupied building on Spectrum. My aim is to find suitable tenants for the remaining space and push the site through to full occupancy, which will be a remarkable transformation for the site.”