The developer behind The Event Complex Aberdeen (Teca) is targeting major technology sector developments across the UK through a new joint venture.
Henry Boot said it would seek opportunities throughout the country for large-scale projects with a “focus on innovation.”
The Sheffield-based firm’s property development business, HBD (Henry Boot Developments), has formed HBD X Factory, with international tech campus developer, Factory.
HBD was Aberdeen City Council’s development partner for the £333million Teca project, which included the P&J Live arena . The complex, built by Elgin-headquartered Robertson Group, opened two years ago.
The new joint venture has been chosen as preferred bidder for the Cyber Central UK project, described as a “visionary campus focused on cyber and digital innovation,” on a 111-acre site at the Golden Valley Development, in Cheltenham
Henry Boot said it would “continue to explore opportunities throughout the UK, including acquisitions and public/private partnerships with local authorities and other strategic land owners. It added its targets would be “large-scale, mixed-use districts and urban regeneration projects with a focus on innovation.”
The 200-acre Golden Valley Development is aimed at building on the presence of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spy agency in Cheltenham. It is expected to create 12,000 new jobs, 3,700 homes and two million square feet of commercial space.
HBD managing director, Ed Hutchinson, said: “The HBD X Factory partnership reflects our focus on delivering large-scale, transformative regeneration projects.
“The Golden Valley Development is a hugely important project for Cheltenham, the South West region and the wider UK tech sector and we look forward to working alongside Factory to bring the scheme forward.”
Factory designs, builds and operates campuses for start-up and fast-growing technology companies, with its first opened in Berlin in 2012.
Its Factory Cheltenham centre will be the company’s first project of scale in the UK and will sit alongside GCHQ in the Gloucestershire town.
