A Bestwood food business park has been awarded European funding to help double in size to meet demand.
The £7.4m scheme to expand Southglade Food Park in Bestwood was finally completed this week and will help generate up to 90 full-time jobs for people in the local area.
The expansion was part-financed with £3.8m of European funding through the European Regional Development Fund.
The park was the first of its kind in the UK when it opened in 2005 and houses a number of high-specification food-grade manufacturing units in a range of sizes, but due to popular demand has now expanded by 32,033 square feet, which is the equivalent of approximately six tennis courts.
Work began to expand the site in July 2014 and a further 12 new units of differing sizes have been made available to be able to cater for a wide range of businesses from those just starting to more established companies looking for room to expand.
The units are designed to support the needs of food and drink manufacturers at all stages of development and will be used for production, testing and packaging.
Councillor Graham Chapman, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council and Portfolio Holder for Resources and Neighbourhood Regeneration, said: “The food park has been so popular since it originally opened that we have had to turn away businesses in the past due to such high demand for facilities, so I’m delighted we’ve been able to attract European investment to help us to expand this fantastic facility.
“The expansion is expected to create up to 90 jobs for local people, and we are confident this investment will continue to promote Nottingham as a key location for food and drink manufacturing in the UK.”
Jobs that will be created at the food park will be advertised through the council’s Nottingham Jobs Hub. Nottingham people looking for work in the city can view a list of jobs by visiting: www.nottinghamjobs.com or can call Nottingham Jobs Hub, on: (0115) 876 4508.
