Marketing Cheshire Site Profile Capricorn Business Park July 2013 Contents Section Page 1 Executive Summary 3 2 Introduction 4 3 Catchment Area 5 4 Capricorn Business Park 6 5 Population 8 5 Working Population Profile 9 6 Unemployment 11 7 Education & Skills 12 8 Wage Rates 14 9 Sectors 15 10 Investment Trends 18 11 Connectivity 20 12 House Prices 22 13 Methodology & Sources 23 14 Statistical Annex 24 Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 2 Executive Summary ► The Capricorn Business Park offers tremendous ► The area has access to a large number of Higher opportunities to an employer. It is a large greenfield Education institutions both for graduate recruitment and employment site strategically located off J17 of the M6 collaborative research projects. Between Liverpool and motorway with prime road and rail connections. There is Manchester there are approximately 160,000 higher c20 acres of light industry/office space available, education students – c15,200 of these are based at the With access to a currently in agricultural use. University of Chester. Nearby Crewe also has a campus large commuter of Manchester Metropolitan University. Keele University ► The site is situated close to Sandbach, a town in is also nearby. population, Cheshire East. The M6 and the A534 are both adjacent higher skills than to the site and both offer easy access to primary network ► The catchment area of Capricorn Business Park the national routes, to the west is Old Mill Road which holds the represents a broad variety of sectors. Financial and average, entrance to the site. business services employ large numbers but the area Capricorn also out-performs the UK in levels of employment based Business Park can ► Capricorn Business Park offers investors access to a in higher value manufacturing activities. large workforce. There are over 770,000 people of offer investors a working age within a 30 minute drive of the site. There ► Cheshire and Warrington has been recognised by compelling are over 140,000 people employed in senior, international investors in business services, proposition. management or professional roles living within a 30 pharmaceuticals, chemicals and automotive assembly minute commute of Capricorn. with a relatively high proportion of inward investment being undertaken in these sectors. ► Despite the strong skills base, the area is not an expensive location to hire staff. Wage rates for workers in ► The strength of the location as a highly effective base for the Local Authority area which contains the site are investment is underpinned by transport connectivity. significantly lower than the national average and as a Crewe station, just a few miles away from the site is result can present employers with a competitive offer under 2 hours from London using rail, and virtually every compared to UK average wage costs. UK city and several European cities can be visited on business with a return on the same day. In addition, the ► The site’s catchment area can provide an employer with site is adjacent to the M6 motorway. the skills required and with local exam results consistently higher than the national average, there are ► The surrounding area also offers an attractive lifestyle tremendous opportunities for employers to recruit a offer including beautiful countryside, a rich cultural suitably educated workforce. heritage, outstanding education opportunities and attractive yet affordable housing stock. Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 3 Introduction ► The report has been constructed using published data sources but uses a bespoke economic geography created for the site to reflect a 30 minute commuter area. ► The 30 minute drive time area is calculated by mapping software and is illustrated in the map overleaf. Most of the ► The 30 minute drive time allows the economy of the area analysis is to be understood from a prospective employer’s provided on a 30 perspective reflecting the travelling characteristics of the minute drive time resident population. area. The data is ► Where necessary the data has been supplemented from supplemented a local authority or regional perspective. with Local ► A detailed definition of the economic area used and the Authority or sources of the statistics are contained at the end of the regional statistics profile. where this is more ► Throughout this report we indicate any differences in data relevant / only compared with regional and/or national averages. All available at this differences reported are indicative only and are not necessarily statistically significant. level. Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 4 Catchment Area Capricorn Business Park is a site adjacent to the M6 (J17). It is on the edge of Sandbach, Capricorn Business a town located within Park has a large the Local Authority catchment area Area of Cheshire East. supported by extensive motorway The map to the left connections into represents an the Liverpool, estimated 30 minute Manchester and drive time from the Birmingham city site. regions and beyond. Sandbach Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright, All rights reserved GD2/2183, 2013 Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 5 Capricorn Business Park ► Capricorn Business Park is a large greenfield employment site strategically located off J17 of the M6 motorway with prime road and rail connections. There is c20 acres of light industry/office space available, currently in agricultural use. ► The site is situated close to Sandbach, a town in Cheshire East. The M6 and the A534 are both adjacent to the site and both offer easy access to primary network routes, to the west is Old Mill Road which holds the entrance to the site. ► As yet, there are no companies located on the site but the site has been allocated for employment development and is immediately available for Design and Build. Capricorn ► Original planning consent, granted in 2005,was for a 40 bed hotel, restaurant, 2,500 sq. m. B1, new access road and car parking. Business Park Discussions are ongoing regarding a new mixed use development comprising 7000 sq. m. of B1 and a similar amount of B2, offers together with a hotel and restaurant, and 250 homes. The Development Strategy proposes up to 700 houses for the site and considerable adjoining land, including 20 ha of employment land. flexibility and an ► A detailed consent for Phase 1 of development has now also expired. excellent location ► Suggested uses include Hotel Facility, general light industry and office. within easy reach ► Potential market segment uses include established or potential office location, high quality business park, Incubator /SME cluster. of road, rail and ► The Seisdon - Manchester mainline oil pipeline crosses through part of the site. There is a high pressure gas pipeline close to the air connections. eastern edge of the site. ► Constraints on the site include an area of flood risk, a Site of Biological Interest, the Sandbach Wildlife Corridor, TPOs, and a former waste tip in the south west part of the site. The development depends on improvements to J17 of the M6. £3.8m has been secured by Cheshire East (Oct 2012) to convert the existing slip road junctions to a roundabout on the Sandbach side and the installation of traffic lights on the Congleton side. ► The Development Strategy for Cheshire East also earmarks the site for residential development in addition to employment use. ► Assumed all utilities are available. ADSL enabled area. Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 6 Capricorn Business Park Capricorn Business Park is strategically situated, very close to excellent motorway, rail and air connections . Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 7 Population ► The scale of the Capricorn Business Park catchment area allows a total population of over 1 million people to be reached in half an hour’s drive. ► Companies have access to a working population of over three quarters of a million in a half an hour commute time. Population in Absolute Numbers Total A Capricorn Business Park Total Population 1,060,200 location offers Working Age Population (16-74) 774,900 investors access to a huge Age Distribution in Numbers workforce. There 0-14 15-29 30-44 45-59 60-74 75+ are over 770,000 people of working Total 187,100 194,100 212,800 215,200 165,500 85,500 age within a 30 minute drive of the site. Age Distribution Proportion, England Comparison 25 20 15 30 mins of Capricorn 10 England % of population % of 5 0 0-14 15-29 30-44 45-59 60-74 75+ Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 8 Working Population Profile ► Not only does Capricorn Business Park have a large working age population within its catchment area but that workforce is more likely to be involved in senior grade occupations than elsewhere in the region. ► There is a minimum of 38,000 working age people for every grade of employment providing employers with choice and the opportunity to recruit a balanced workforce. Working Age Population There are over 140,000 Total management and professional grade Working age population (16-74) 774,900 staff living within Working age population as % of total population 73% a 30 minute commute of England working age population as % of total population 73% Capricorn Occupation of Working Age Population Business Park. Estimated % North % %30 min Total West Eng Managers and senior officials 55,000 11.0 9.9 10.9 Professional occupations 85,300 17.1 16.3 17.5 Associate professional and technical occupations 58,500 11.7 11.5 12.8 Administrative and secretarial occupations 52,800 10.6 11.8 11.5 Skilled trades occupations 56,400 11.3 11.3 11.4 Caring, leisure and other service occupations 47,600 9.6 10.1 9.3 Sales and customer services occupations 44,400 8.9 9.4 8.4 Process, plant and machine operations 38,800 7.8 8.1 7.2 Elementary occupations 59,400 11.9 11.6 11.1 Marketing Cheshire Site Reviews 9 Working Population Profile ► Managerial and professional occupations combined make up one of the largest cohorts of the working age population catchment area.