Member Article

First stage of £120m business park complete

The first speculative phase of Sunderland’s £120m Rainton Bridge Business Park has been completed. Jointly developed by international office and business park specialist Akeler and Sunderland City Council, the park is expected to create a minimum of 4,000 jobs over the next seven years.

Five buildings totalling 120,000 sq ft of office space have so far been completed in the first phase of the business park, and all five have already attracted strong interest from potential investors. Sunderland City Council believe that once complete, Rainton Bridge will be one of the best technologically connected business parks in the UK.

Rainton Bridge follows in the footsteps of the Doxford International Business park which is host to a range of corporate HQs and financial and customer services organizations, where 8,000 people are currently employed.

Bob Symonds, Sunderland Council Leader, said: “The completion of phase one of Rainton Bridge marks another major milestone for the partnership behind this joint venture and for the city as a whole. “Sunderland is I believe unique in its partnership with the private sector. This new development is testimony to the city council’s close relationship with Akeler and its commitment to attracting jobs and investment into the city. “The completion of phase one of Rainton Bridge will reinforce Sunderland’s status as a leading international business centre.”

Patrick Going, Director of Akeler, said: “We are delighted to continue our association with Sunderland City Council and we believe that this is the best example of a private and public sector partnership. We are determined with the city council to make this development successful and bring thousands of job opportunities to the people of Sunderland and the region as a whole.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .