Member Article

New HQ for BALI at Stoneleigh Park

The headquarters of the UK’s leading trade association for the landscape industry has moved into a newly-refurbished building within Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI), which has a membership of over 760 professional garden designers, landscapers and suppliers of products and services to the landscape industry, has been based at Stoneleigh Park since 1999.

BALI’s new Landscape House will continue to be a central hub for membership services from where its team of around a dozen staff will provide members with business, technical and promotional support, as well as handling enquiries from potential members.

The building provides improved meeting facilities and will host member workshops and training opportunities.

Wayne Grills, BALI’s chief operations officer, said: “We are delighted with our new headquarters at Stoneleigh Park as it will enable us to provide an even better service to members.

“We were keen to remain at Stoneleigh Park as it is such a good central location for an association with nationwide reach. It is also home to other major organisations that are aligned to our industry.

“The old building had served us well but it no longer met the needs of the association, which has come a long way since we moved here in 1999. The new headquarters will provide a better home with improved office and meeting space.”

The two-storey building underwent a major refurbishment by LaSalle Investment Management, which manages Stoneleigh Park. BALI was involved in the design process to ensure the new building met the organisation’s needs.

The improvements included the installation of an air source heat pump to make the building energy efficient, and fibre optic broadband to provide super-fast connectivity. The internal layout was re-configured to make the most of the space available and provide improved meeting and training rooms.

Colin Hooper, estates director at Stoneleigh Park, said: “The building has undergone a full refurbishment to the highest environmental standards which is a main focus of LaSalle’s transformation of Stoneleigh Park into a centre of agricultural excellence.

“Stoneleigh Park is home to a number of leading national organisations within the land-based sector, including the Agriculture Horticulture Development Board and LANTRA, and we are delighted to have created this new home for BALI.

“We have been able to provide a modern and eco-friendly building for BALI to support its members to be leaders of an environmentally, ethically and commercially sustainable landscape industry.”

Stoneleigh Park is part of the Business Environments for Science and Technology (BEST) Network, the largest privately-owned portfolio of science and technology parks in the UK which has been brought together by LaSalle.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .