Construction of £9m Spire Healthcare unit underway
The beginning of construction of a £9 million business unit for leading UK independent hospital group, Spire Healthcare, at the prestigious £120 million Worcester Six Business Park, has been announced today by Stoford Developments.
Spire Healthcare, the UK’s largest private hospital provider in terms of revenue, has agreed a 20-year lease on a new 72,500 sq ft unit at the site. The move to the unit could create around 60 jobs.
Mat Mason, Group Supply Chain Director at Spire Healthcare, Gerard Ludlow, of Stoford, Nigel Hudson, of Worcestershire County Council, Gary Woodman, of Worcestershire LEP, Councillor Lynda Robson and Shawn Riley, of Wychavon District Council, and Michael Maddox, of Knight Frank Investment Management, attended ceremony to mark the official start of work on site.
Wychavon District Council gave the development planning consent earlier this year. A&H Construction has been appointed main contractors to deliver the unit by Birmingham-based Stoford Developments.
Two months ago construction also started at Worcester Six on a 140,000 sq ft headquarters for Kimal PLC. The business park, located just off junction six of the M5, will provide 1.5 million sq ft of accommodation and create up to 5,000 jobs.
Spire Healthcare, a FTSE 250 listed business, is already a major employer in Worcestershire with a hospital at South Bank in Worcester and The Spire Clinic in Droitwich. The new building will be ancillary to these existing healthcare facilities and will support these functions as well as other Hospitals across the UK.
Spire Healthcare requires further supply chain infrastructure and facilities to support its warehousing operations. In Worcestershire, Spire already has a National Distribution Centre at Stonebridge Cross in Droitwich – another Stoford development – where it has a 60,000 sq ft operation providing around 70 jobs. .
The new unit will provide jobs in customer and professional services, distribution services and archive management.
Gerard Ludlow, director of Stoford, said: “With the start of construction of Spire’s unit we can really see the Worcester Six vision beginning to take shape. Nearby we can already see Kimal’s new headquarters making great progress so these are exciting times for the business community in Worcestershire.”
Mat Mason who is leading the project for Spire Healthcare, said: “This represents the next stage of our evolution, building upon the solid supply chain and infrastructure that is already in place, which has served the business well for the past 10 years. These are exciting times for all involved and will open the next chapter of the Spire supply chain so we can continue to provide a first class customer service to the Spire Healthcare Group.”
Worcestershire County Council Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Infrastructure Dr Ken Pollock said: “With work starting on construction of this new building for Spire Healthcare, you can really start to see Worcester Six take shape and move forward.
“Work is already well underway for Kimal’s new headquarters and with the recently announced expansion for Material Solutions; it puts the Worcester Six Business Park firmly on the map for other potential businesses who are after an amazing location.”
Gary Woodman, chief executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Worcester Six is really beginning to take shape with Spire Healthcare becoming the second tenant to begin construction of their headquarters. The high profile investment opportunity has generated a large amount of interest, and Spire Healthcare is a really exciting addition to the site which will enable the local economy to prosper.”