£2.5 million Project Sees New Jobs Created

Ellesmere Port car retail giant Corkills Motor Group is celebrating a £2.5 million investment in the town.
The company, which arrived in the town five years ago with its Porsche dealership, has now officially opened an Alfa Romeo garage on an adjoining site.

The £2.5 million project has seen ten new jobs created already, rising to a potential 40 as the business develops.

Chairman of the Ellesmere Port Development Board, Robert Mee, said: “I am delighted that Corkills Motor Group has decided that Ellesmere Port can best meet the company’s needs for their new showroom.

“With the new Marks and Spencer store opening opposite, this area will continue to encourage visitors to the town and will bring more businesses into the area, creating new jobs.

“There are 10 million consumers within one hour of the town which makes Ellesmere Port an attractive proposition for investment.”
Ellesmere Port is fast becoming a retail hotspot with recent arrivals including Harley Davidson, Porsche, Alfa Romeo , Audi and a flagship Marks and Spencer store – the largest outside of London.

Managing director for Corkills Motor Group and Ellesmere Port Development Board Member, Adrian Kermode, said: “Our £2.5 million investment in this development stems from our belief that this area is the most perfect car retail environment possible in Cheshire.

“When Porsche arrived in Ellesmere Port it really was a leap of faith for the company – one which has worked out so well that we have now brought Alfa Romeo here too. The new dealership has so far created ten jobs with another 30 potentially in the future as the business develops.

“Since we arrived land values have rocketed, showing the value and desire for companies to be based here. Since we opened on 1 September, five years to the day after Porsche opened, we have sold more than 100 cars – and look forward to improving on this over the next year.”

Colliers International Appointed To Ellesmere Poert Development Study

Cheshire West and Chester Council has appointed Colliers International to create an Area Development Framework (ADF) for land and buildings in the vicinity of New Bridge Road, Ellesmere Port.

The ADF will set out a vision for the development and regeneration of the 60 hectare site, identifying how it is integrated with the land use planning system and promoting the successful delivery and implementation of the scheme.

The ultimate ambition for the site is for it to be developed as a green technology park. It is hoped that an anchor tenant will be in place by 2013.

Andrew Delaney, lead director for the study based at the North West office of Colliers International in Manchester, commented: “We are delighted to have been appointed to undertake this study.

“There are many strengths that can be built upon as we look to develop this ADF - Ellesmere Port has outstanding access to the motorway network and a strong tradition in the energy sector with the local presence of world class companies such as Shell and EA Technology. In addition, there are embedded manufacturing skills and a plentiful land supply, much of which is under council control.”

Mr Delaney said the Council intended to enhance the economic prospects of Ellesmere Port by improving its appearance and public transport links and increasing the range of skills available to its workforce.

Colliers International will lead a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a study to help Ellesmere Port to overcome these problems. It will provide commercial development, valuation, agency and delivery advice.

The Liverpool office of Urban Practitioners will give advice on masterplanning, ARCA will provide architectural input and the Manchester studio of consulting engineers Stockley will be responsible for advising on urban design, highways and movement, engineering and site conditions.

Chair of the Ellesmere Port Development Board, Robert Mee, said: “One of the Board’s early decisions was to identify a number of potentially key sites to assist redevelopment and regeneration within the town.

“New Bridge Road – a large and available site - ranks high on this list due to its close proximity to the town and motorways and we will now explore its potential further through this Area Development Framework.

“In giving this brief our priority is to create employment opportunities for Ellesmere Port residents by attracting both established and new businesses to the town with top-class facilities.”

Cheshire West and Chester’s Executive Member for Prosperity, Councillor Herbert Manley said: “This piece of work will set out an exciting vision for this area of the town and the establishment of the Board, led by the private sector, will help to set a clear agenda for investment and development in the future.

“The plans for a Green Technology Park are innovative to say the least. We hope to see Ellesmere Port’s historical energy industry to continue to grow and evolve with a new clean, green ethos.

“This project also has significant potential to create new jobs and skills within the area.”

Europe in sights of Ellesmere Port’s MSoft

A TECHNOLOGY firm is setting its sights on expansion into Europe following a series of major contract wins with hospitals in the UK.

Ellesmere Port-based MSoft’s innovative blood-tracking systems have proved a hit with NHS Trusts with a number of projects including the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital going live in recent weeks.

Their web-based electronic blood-tracking system allows hospitals to control access to and from all blood fridges as well as ensuring safer bedside management. Its’ Bedside Management system allows each bar-coded blood unit to be matched with a patient’s bar-coded wristband in a matter of seconds with nurses using a combination of handheld devices and computers on wheels at the patient’s bedside.

The company’s managing director Matt McAlister is drawing up plans to target countries in Europe where he believes there is massive growth potential for MSoft.

Mr McAlister said: “Our technology is easily transferable to other European countries not least because the software is multi-lingual.

“There is a European requirement for blood to be tracked vein to vein and we know that certain countries such as Germany, France, Holland and Scandinavian nations are committed to providing the best possible health service for their people.

“We also know that some of our innovations such as the use of iPads rather than traditional handheld devices on wards will also appeal to these countries which are determined to set the standard in healthcare provision.

“We are actively seeking the right implementation partners or re-sellers with the capability to work with us to take our technology into the EU.”

Interserve expands following nuclear deal

Construction and maintenance business Interserve Industrial has moved into a new 230,000 sq ft Pioneer Point facility in Ellesmere Port.
The expansion follows a £20m contract win to work on a £400m clean-up project at Sellafield in Cumbria. The contract has created 175 new jobs.

Interserve has signed a deal with engineering contractor Costain Oil & Gas Process in September 2009 to construct a plant called ‘Evaporator D’ at Sellafield. It will build 11 separate modules at Ellesmere Port plant and ship them to Sellafield where they will be installed.

Evaporator D is the largest nuclear project in Europe and will provide additional capacity to support the site’s existing evaporators, which play a pivotal role in the delivery of reprocessing and hazard reduction across the Sellafield site.

Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Andrew Miller said: “British engineering is alive and well here in Ellesmere Port and I am sure the skilled workforce for which we are well known will make an important contribution to the future of Sellafield and the nuclear industry.”

Interserve operation director James Lord added: “Interserve has a strong nuclear background and is providing the construction services for these complex nuclear grade modules.

“This is the first time a nuclear plant of this size has been modularised in the UK and Interserve is leveraging its 30-year nuclear experience and self delivered services to give a comprehensive solution.”

The company’s new facility is located opposite is existing site on the Poole Hall Road Industrial Estate

Next to move into old Borders store at The Coliseum

RETAIL giant Next is moving into the former Borders store.

The company has confirmed it will relocate to the old bookstore – three times bigger than its current unit on The Coliseum shopping park – in spring of next year.

The move into the vacant premises, which will provide just under 30,000 sq ft of retail space, is likely to create new jobs.

The current premises only provides 8,124 sq ft of retail space.

A Next spokeswoman has said: “We’re looking to open in May next year. It will be one of our largest store openings of 2011.”

She added that the new store would have women’s, men’s, children’s, homeware and sports departments.