Move to create luxury business accommodation

Businesses and developers today gave an overwhelming thumbs-up to multi-million pound plans to revitalise a Midland town and create thousands of new jobs.

Plans for top-notch offices at West Bromwich, near Junction 1, of the M5 and at All Saints were unveiled yesterday.

It will be the first luxury office developments in the town for more than 30 years.

David Higson, Chief Executive of solicitors Challinors based at Cronehills Linkway, West Bromwich said: “We have been based in the town for 100 years.

“It is an excellent base from which to do business. We seem to get the best of both worlds, being just down the road or tramline from Birmingham and also the gateway to the Black Country.

“The prospect of having better office accommodation would encourage more professional organisations into the locality and encourage economic growth for all those involved.

“We see this as the final brick in the wall towards making West Bromwich a vibrant professional centre”.

And Simon Farrant, Director at property consultants Phoenix Beard, which has extensive experiences in West Bromwich: “If these developments lift demand as we would anticipate, you could see a rise in base rents by as much as 20 per cent over the next three years.

Top investors and developers were yesterday given a far-reaching vision of West Bromwich – a radically revitalised “town centre with thousands of new jobs in high quality shops, colleges and office developments - at a business breakfast hosted by Sandwell Urban Regeneration Company RegenCo.

The future of West Bromwich will include new shopping developments, university level educational opportunities and hundreds of town centre homes, as well as Grade A offices.

“The blueprint could create up to 7,000 new jobs and RegenCo Chief Executive, Ros Kerslake said that it had taken two years of planning to finally bring forward the Masterplan.

RegenCo aims to create 20,000 new jobs and attract £1.6 billion of new investment to West Bromwich, Smethwick and Hill Top, between West Bromwich and Wednesbury, over 15 years.

Source: Evening Mail 11th May 2006 - by Steve Johnson