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GBA Services Open New Depot

One of Europe’s leading international express delivery and logistics companies, GBA Services has expanded into Kent and set up its South East distribution hub in Ashford.

The firm has taken nearly 8,000 sq ft of industrial space at Montpelier Business Park and has already employed 15 new staff.

This figure is expected to rise to 35 within the next three months as the company develops its Kent based operation.

With its headquarters in Lancashire, GBA Services has a dedicated fleet of vehicles and offers road, rail, air and sea freight delivery solutions throughout the UK and Europe.

The new Ashford depot will handle high priority shipments using the company’s already highly successful Time Critical Division and will also specialise in serving clients within the pharmaceutical industry using its new GDP Pharma Logistics operation.

Depot Manager of GBA Services, Mike Candela, said: “Prior to taking space here in Ashford, our most southerly location was in Buckinghamshire.

"From Ashford we have unrivalled links to Europe, making it quicker, more cost-effective and greener for us to get our vehicles in and out of the UK, which will have a positive effect not only for GBA, but its customers too.

"Having worked with Locate in Kent previously, I visited its online commercial property database to find suitable premises in the county. The company put me in touch with various property agents and provided a valuable service.”

Paul Wookey, Chief Executive of Locate in Kent, said: “Kent is the ideal location for transport and logistics companies due to its supply of quality but cost-effective commercial property, proximity to the Channel Tunnel and easy access to one of the busiest ports in the world - Dover.

"It’s very encouraging to see companies like GBA Services investing here since transport and logistics is a very important sector for the county in supporting so many other types of businesses and trade links overseas.”

For more information about GBA Services visit its web sites www.gbaservices.com or call 01233 613084. For more on Locate in Kent, see the Locate in Kent pages on Locations4Business

Research Shows Tourism Boost

A major new study into the tourism economy of Ashford has revealed that the sector contributes £236 million to the local economy and supports more than 3,800 jobs, representing around 7.3% of all jobs in the town.

The independent research, commissioned by Visit Kent and Ashford Borough Council, is based on statistics gathered from 2009 and gives the most up-to-date picture of the visitor economy.

According to the data, around 388,000 overnight trips were made to Ashford during the year – 305,000 by domestic visitors from other parts of the UK and 83,000 by overseas visitors.

Ashford Borough Council Leader Cllr Peter Wood said: “Tourism represents an essential part of the Ashford economy and we are delighted on the positive effect it has had in terms of economic development and job creation.

“This report shows the importance of tourism to the borough and bodes well for the Ashford economy.”

Compared with the last survey conducted in 2006, 2009 saw the volume of domestic overnight trips increase by six per cent and overseas visitors by three per cent.

More than half of domestic visitors (51 per cent) stayed with friends and relatives in the borough as did 22 per cent of overseas visitors.

The borough attracted 3.5 million day trips, up six per cent compared with 2006 and day trip expenditure also increased by six per cent rising from £103 million in 2006 to £109.3 million in 2009.

Meanwhile, a further £12.1 million of direct turnover for local businesses came from visitors spending on second homes, and local residents entertaining their guests.

Ashford Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Cultural and Project Services Cllr Bernard Heyes commented: “These results underline the importance of tourism as a growth area of our economy.

“We are committed to working with partners, such as Visit Kent, the Ashford and Tenterden Tourism Association and individual tourism businesses, to ensure that Ashford continues to benefit from its growing visitor economy.

“Ashford’s excellent location and transport links, its wealth of top quality accommodation, beautiful surrounding countryside and villages and the draw of Tenterden, the ‘Jewel of the Weald’, are just some of the reasons why the area attracts an increasing numbers of visitors.

“In particular we are looking forward to supporting our tourism businesses by providing a brand new tourist information service at the new Ashford Gateway Plus and by establishing even closer working relationships with our partners so that we can all continue to make Kent, but particularly Ashford and Tenterden, ‘must visit’ destinations.”

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, chief executive at Visit Kent, the award-winning public private partnership promoting the county across the UK and overseas, said: “These tremendous results really demonstrate that Kent and Medway are increasingly recognised as a top UK destination both at home and abroad.

“Visit Kent is a not-for-profit organisation bringing together local authorities and our 3,000 tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses to market our county in a way that no individual business or organisation could do on its own. Together we are punching far, far above our weight.

“Our innovative partnerships, which are developing all the time, are adding so much value to our campaigns and our marketing reach. I am confident that when the next survey is done, based on data collected in 2012, the results will be even more impressive.”

The full Economic Impact of Tourism on Kent and Medway 2009 study is available at: www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk

Private Sector Confidence

The government’s plan to boost the economy relies heavily on private sector expansion and businesses in Ashford are leading the way in investing for growth.

Ashford is the fastest-growing town between London and Continental Europe, driven by a substantial programme of investment by both the private and public sectors.

And while the historic Kent market town is being buffeted by the same economic difficulties as the rest of the UK, 2011 has begun with a wave of positive developments in the district.

Leading the way is national retail giant Dobbies, which this month has opened its first Dobbies Garden World in Kent, creating 120 jobs. Costing £8m, the 48,000 sq ft store covers a nine acre site on the fast-expanding Eureka Park. The brand has been running for 140 years and has 27 stores across the UK.

One business with its roots in Ashford has demonstrated its confidence in the town by moving into purpose-built premises on the Orbital Business Park.

SuperCups Vending has just cut the ribbon on a new headquarters, showroom, warehouse and distribution centre, giving it four times as much space. The firm, which began in a garage in the town, now employs 42 people and is looking to grow its workforce further.

Frozen food company Ardo UK, based in Charing, is expanding after buying Dutch firm Ploegmakers Food Ingredients. The firm has used the acquisition to establish a new business called Ardo Food Ingredients based in Veghel, Holland.

Ardo UK has also signed a major deal with Europe’s largest frozen pizza manufacturer which will result in 2.5m pizzas being stored at the company’s cold store in Charing and the creation of more jobs. Ardo UK is one of Europe’s largest frozen food companies, supplying 520,000 tonnes of frozen food to 54 countries each year.

Supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s are also preparing to invest heavily in expanding existing stores in the town; Tesco will create an extra 75 jobs if it receives the go-ahead to increase its Park Farm store from 40,000 sq ft to 55,000 sq ft, while Sainsbury’s will create 350 full-and part-time jobs if it’s allowed to double the size of its store at the Warren Retail Park.

Quadrant Estates, developer of Eureka Business Park in Ashford, is currently building a new phase of offices at the site alongside J9 of the M20. The new offices, called Northdown II, are being contructed by Kier Group, who are build two buildings comprising 10,292 sq ft and 15,675 sq ft respectively. Completion is projected for July 2011.

Northdown II is the second phase of the Northdown offices and will sit alongside the 1.64 acres development site recently sold to the Act Foundation. This part of the site will form a new managed business centre facility for the Basepoint operation of 40,000 sq ft.

The initial 51,000 sq ft Northdown office development is now fully let. Herald, Eureka Park’s three storey Headquarter building is let to Smiths Medical International Limited, who signed a new lease to let the whole of the building last year.

Eureka Place, the adjacent retail offering for Eureka Park, is now also fully let with the remaining 2,800 sq ft recently let to three new retail occupiers.

Work has also started on the new development at Orbital Park where a 1.5 acre site has been sold to South East Coast ambulance for a new 33,000 sq ft Hazardous Area Response (HART) and Make Ready Station and US manufacturer Unitherm Food Systems Limited has invested in a site at Ashford Business Park, Sevington, providing them with a UK base to service their European Market.

Meanwhile more than 60,000 plants from around the world are being cultivated at Palmstead Nurseries, after the Ashford company won a contract for the London 2012 Garden, a half mile-long botanical garden inspired by Britain’s five centuries of collecting plants from around the world which will form the green centrepiece of the Olympic Park.

The public sector is also investing in Ashford – the town has been chosen to spearhead the first phase of a multi-million pound overhaul of the former South Kent College sites.

Education chiefs at K College, which took over from SKC last year, have announced plans to build a £20m campus in the heart of the town. It will open in spring 2013.

Judith Armitt, Managing Director of Ashford’s Future, said: “Ashford continues to demonstrate that we are the best place to do business in the UK. Ashford’s attractiveness as a business location is boosted by excellent road and rail links, making it one of the most accessible towns in the UK.

“It is very reassuring to see that more companies are being encouraged to expand or move into the area.”

Cllr Peter Wood, Leader of Ashford Borough Council, said: “It is extremely encouraging to see many companies investing in Ashford and creating employment opportunities for the town.

“There has been significant public sector investment on infrastructure in recent years and of course the arrival of high speed services. We are now seeing the private sector show their confidence in the town by moving to or expanding their operations here.”

New K College campus for Ashford

K College has announced plans to redevelop its old building in Ashford town centre into a multi-million pound campus.

Governors are intending to put forward plans for a brand new building on the Elwick Road site, following an independent review of all the property owned by the former South and West Kent Colleges.

Principal of K College, Bill Fearon, said: ‘We have investigated all the potential sites that would best suit our students in Ashford and the Elwick Road site proved to be the best option. We already own the site, it has capacity to expand, and it is in the town centre.

‘K College is proud to be central to the continued growth and regeneration of Ashford town centre and is looking forward to offering the people of Ashford a 21st century learning environment that will meet the needs of employers, further and higher education students and our partners in local schools.’

K College will now begin the process of applying for planning permission for a new building on the site in the hope that a new college campus could be ready for students in Spring 2013, if plans go ahead smoothly.

The estimated cost of the new building will be in the region of £20 million, which K College will secure from a variety of funding sources. It will have potential for further development subject to the demands of employers and the Ashford community.

K College confirmed it had looked at other options in Ashford, including joining other local organisations in Charter House, but no other site offered the same value for money that Elwick Road presents.

Options for modernizing two other K College campuses, in Folkestone and Dover, are also due to be decided soon.

Have Your Say on Development

Residents are being asked to provide their views on a planning document which highlights potential sites across the borough for development in the future.

Officers from the planning department will be in the County Square and Ashford Gateway to explain the proposals and show residents how they can provide feedback to the consultation.

County Square - Friday 21st January - between 9.30am and 4.30pm
Ashford Gateway in Park Mall - Saturday 22nd January - between 9am and 1pm

The Urban Sites and Infrastructure Development Plan Document (DPD) shows which sites outside the town centre and the two proposed urban extensions could be developed to accommodate the town’s growth.

It covers the period up to 2016 and identifies sites which could be developed for employment or housing as well as key infrastructure, open spaces, sport and recreation areas.

Areas allocated for development include key brownfield sites and sites on the edge of the town such as an extension to the Godinton Park estate, land adjoining the William Harvey hospital, a new employment site at Sevington and a new strategic park at Conningbrook.

As a result of previous consultations, two proposed development areas to the north of Kennington have not been included in the plan.

Last week Ashford Borough Council’s Executive approved for the publication of the Urban Sites and Infrastructure DPD for public consultation.

This consultation stage gives the public and other stakeholders the opportunity to make formal comments on the plan’s contents, before formal submission to Government is made.

The seven week consultation period began on 16th December 2010 and will end at 5pm on the 4th February 2011.

Simon Cole, Policy Manager for Ashford Borough Council, said: “It’s important for residents to understand this document is based on the current adopted Core Strategy and is only proposing to allocate a relatively small amount of new development in this plan up to 2016.

“The fundamental review into how much, and where, Ashford should grow in the longer term will take place in the Core Strategy review which is due to begin next year.”

For more information on the plan visit Ashford Borough Council’s website