19th November 2002
BARNSLEY BUILDING HEALTHY JOBS FUTURE

Work is now well under way on an important new development in Barnsley which is set to retain and create jobs in the town and the borough for many years to come. Barnsley Development Agency (BDA) has assisted Barnsley Miller Partnership in securing £110k worth of Objective 1 funding towards a near £1.2M office development for the NHS regional IT services, at Beevor Court Phase II on Pontefract Road. The NHS hopes to increase its staff numbers to 50 following relocation to Beevor Court, and to further increase the staff count to around 70 in the subsequent 12 months.

The high specification office has been pre-let to the NHS Information Authority (NHSIA), which is supporting modernisation of the NHS through the best use of information and technology, to improve patient care. The premises have been taken on an initial 15-year lease.

Jeff Pickering, Economic Development Manager for Barnsley Development Agency, commented “Each company that we help to retain in Barnsley, or attract to the borough, helps towards the overall effort of regenerating Barnsley and creating new job opportunities. During the past 6 months BDA has handled over 250 enquiries and delivered over £13M of inward investment and company growth, creating 600 jobs for the borough in the process.”

Sylvia Yates, Director of the Objective 1 Programme said: "This is the first building project to be supported in Barnsley by Objective 1 as part of its investment of £700 million from Europe into South Yorkshire. But more will follow and we look forward to funding more projects to support businesses and jobs across South Yorkshire."

David Hodgson of the Barnsley Miller Partnership comments: “This is an important step towards the regeneration of the area. There is a demand in Barnsley for good quality office stock, and it is hoped that through the provision of this building, we can assist with the continued development of the town’s image as an attractive business location”.


Phase I of the building comprises a 1,533 sq m (16,500 sq ft) office and Barnsley Miller are now hoping to undertake a similar quality of scheme on Phase III of Beevor Court which is able to accommodate up to 2,044 sq m (22,000 sq ft).

"We needed to relocate from our existing offices in Barnsley due to pressure on space and chose this particular scheme over a number of other sites we were considering. The main factors in this decision were its good location and quality accommodation which is flexible to our changing needs”, commented Phil Dacus on behalf of the NHSIA.

Cllr Bill Denton, Barnsley Council’s Cabinet spokesperson for Environment and Development, said: “This is exactly the kind of high-tech business in quality office space we need to see in Barnsley and is a product of good partnership working between the private and public sector, backed by Objective 1 funds.”




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