Bentley sets out Crewe campus ambitions
The luxury car manufacturer has produced a masterplan outlining its long-term plan for its Cheshire headquarters, detailing aspirations to create “a true campus environment and world class hub of design, engineering and manufacturing.”
Bentley Motors is the largest employer in Crewe, with more than 4,000 staff on the site around Pyms Lane and Middlewich Road.
Bentley was granted planning consent in May for a 500,000 sq ft expansion, delivering an engineering technical centre, design centre, and workshop, to be constructed on an 11-acre site opposite Bentley’s office and warehouse complex. The plot is currently made up of two car parks owned by Bentley.
Bentley’s £40m expansion was approved earlier this year
While the masterplan acknowledges that this project will begin to realise Bentley’s campus vision, the company outlines “a wider plan of expansion and integration”. It proposes the creation of a single site through the closure of two roads, Sunnybank Road and Pyms Lane, which currently cut across the land and split it into three plots.
“Should these closures be achieved a true campus environment will be created to enable Bentley to showcase itself as the world class hub of design, engineering and manufacturing that the brand represents. This will ensure that Bentley can attract and retain the best talent from around the world and locally,” Bentley said.
Cheshire East Council’s cabinet is being asked to endorse the draft framework at its meeting on Tuesday 6 December, before the plan is put out to public consultation.
The masterplan includes proposals to extend the Bentley site north up Middlewich Road, to reach the route of the planned Leighton West Link Road. Most of this is land owned by Cheshire East Council, which a report to the council said “would be the subject of detailed negotiations going forward”.
A council-owned waste recycling centre is operational within the Bentley site, and Bentley hopes it would be relocated to make way for a Bentley Museum.
Bentley is advised by How Planning, AHR Architects and WYG.
