Business leaders from across the city attended a special seminar opened by council leader Jon Collins and deputy leader Graham Chapman today (Thursday 19th March). The seminar was designed to provide an overview of opportunities stemming from a host of Strategic Regeneration Projects which are due to change the face of the city.

“We wanted to make sure that the business community is fully informed about the breadth of the regeneration taking place so that they are better able to prepare for and to take full advantage of what’s to come, with all that this implies for jobs and growth,” said Councillor Collins.

“There are many Nottingham regeneration projects coming forward and there’s a lot to take in, but we have a raft of speakers who can offer invaluable insights into how some of the key projects will help the city, its businesses, its institutions and its workforce.”

The audience was also given an update on how, together with the other local authorities in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, Nottingham City Council has this week been part of the initial discussion with the Government for a ‘D2N2’ devolution deal to give local people and local businesses a much greater say in the decisions which will affect their future in areas such as jobs, housing, transport, development, further education and energy strategy.

As well as being addressed by Councillors Collins and Chapman, the invited audience heard from Chris Brown, Fund Director of igloo – joint owners with the city council of award-winning eco-developer Blueprint, Chris Jagger, Chief Estates Officer of the University of Nottingham, Nicola McCabe, Senior Marketing Manager at Intu, owners of the Victoria Centre and the Broadmarsh Centre, and Mark Chivers, Director of Estates for Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Blueprint’s projects include the £35m Trent Basin scheme to develop 160 new energy-efficient homes on the north bank of the river on a nine-acre site off Trent Lane.

The University of Nottingham is progressing a £40m sports village, the latest in an array of developments including the university’s futuristic Technology Entrepreneurship Centre – construction is planned to start this summer – and the Centre for Sustainable Chemistry, due for completion in summer 2016 as the UK’s first carbon-neutral laboratory.

Intu’s £40m refurbishment of the Victoria Centre is already in progress and work on the £150m Broadmarsh redevelopment is due to start in 2016, with planning applications to be submitted shortly.

The council also announced a £30m scheme at the recent MIPIM international property exhibition to develop a five-storey, 50,000 square foot ‘incubator’ facility to nurture life science companies in an expansion to Nottingham’s thriving bioscience sector. Life sciences and health care already provide 55,000 jobs and sustain 1,400 companies in the city.

Peel Holdings are shortly to commence a £20m plan to develop Unity Square Phase 1 in a scheme initially featuring 50-60,000 square feet of grade A office space, with a hotel and more office space to follow.

The Walgreens Boots Alliance site in Beeston is part of the Nottingham Enterprise Zone and has outline planning permission for around 880,000 sq ft of new commercial opportunities and 675 new homes. The aim is to create a health, beauty and wellbeing-themed commercial and residential urban village, developing a hub around the current Boots Operational Centre and a significant life-sciences campus. The development will offer a uniquely complete lifestyle option integrating living, working, enterprise and innovation, while the Enterprise Zone as a whole will contribute to Nottingham’s growth and regeneration, generating jobs and economic growth.

“With the £570m NET Phase Two tram extension nearing completion, the widened A453 due to open shortly and the award-winning £60m redevelopment of Nottingham Station, the city’s connectivity is being comprehensively improved just as all these developments take shape,” said Councillor Collins.

“As the recovery in the wider economy gains traction, we are witnessing a level of regeneration in the city that is putting Nottingham and its business community in a prime position to take full advantage of the upturn and to provide the jobs and growth that will benefit everyone in the city.”