Member News
SMALL businesses in the Tees Valley will be boosted after plans for new office and commercial space at the Teesworks site were approved.
Teesworks Ltd has secured planning permission from Redcar & Cleveland Council to build more than 40 hybrid commercial units of varying sizes on the giant 4,500-acre site.
The units, which are intended for light industrial use, will be situated on land in South Bank near to the giant SeAH Wind UK monopile factory currently being built.
A total of 43 hybrid commercial/office units are being planned for the site. The majority of these units – 35 in total – will be two-storey units with a utility area at ground floor level with large service doors and office floorspace on the first floor. Each of the units will have a dedicated access, along with parking and service areas.
Of the remaining eight units, five will be small units, each of just under 4,000 sq ft; two will be medium-sized units of just under 7,000 sq ft and one large unit will take up 11,194 sq ft.
The largest commercial units will have an associated service yard, HGV and car parking space.
In total, the hybrid unit development is envisaged to take up more than 100,000 sq ft of space at Teesworks.
Teesworks Ltd intends to rent out the units to local SMEs, a number of whom are likely to service the needs of large occupiers on the Teesworks site, such as SeAH Wind and bp.
Teesworks Ltd chairman Chris Musgrave said: “While the likes of SeAH Wind and bp are headline-grabbing occupiers at Teesworks, it has always been our intention that their presence will feed into the local economy and help drive further investment and job creation.
“That’s why we have set aside this part of the development for hybrid units offering occupiers easy in/easy out access terms so that local small businesses can start up on the site or set up new offices here.
“We know how important small businesses are to building the bedrock of the local economy, creating jobs and driving prosperity which is why we always wanted to involve SMEs literally on the ground at Teesworks.
“We’re keen to make a start on building those units as soon as possible so we’ll be getting on site as soon as we can and creating the spaces for new and existing businesses to set up and grow.”
Further information about the office units will be released in the coming months.
