Funding unlocks 210,000 sq ft Ellesmere Port industrial 

A total of £11.7m of loans and grants has been provided to pave the way for the creation of Vortex Business Park. 

The 210,000 sq ft industrial development in Ellesmere Port will receive a £9m loan from the Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund and Northwest Evergreen Fund, and a grant of £2.7m from the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone. 

The remaining funding required to build the scheme will come from the owner’s equity. The company delivering the project is Vortex Business Park Ltd, a Chester-based firm registered in 2021 and headed by Catherine and John Pickering. 

The Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund and Northwest Evergreen 1 Fund were both advised by CBRE. 

Herbin Duffield, director of lending at CBRE Capital Advisors, said: “This is a major step forward for the development, and a significant boost to the economic prospects of the area, demonstrating the beneficial impact funding can have. 

“This is a great deal for all, the finance will be for a three-year term, providing sufficient time for a 12-month construction programme, with some headroom, then an orderly letting and sales or refinance process, although the finance can be repaid earlier with no penalty.” 

The multi-let industrial estate, located off New Bridge Road will see a total of 210,000 sq ft developed across five units ranging from 15,000 to 107,000 sq ft.  

New Bridge Road is allocated by Cheshire West & Chester Council as an employment growth area. 

The Vortex scheme sits within the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone, a strategic priority for the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership and is set to create more than 400 new jobs. 

The 11.4-acre site comprises scrubland to the east of the M53 and Shropshire Union Canal. It sits within the Ellesmere Port urban area and the Stanlow special policy area, and already benefits from two points of access sited off New Bridge Road: Deanes Road and Cook Old Road. 

Clare Hayward, chair of Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The Vortex scheme will see the development of the last of our major Enterprise Zone sites in the New Bridge Road area.  

“Over the last six years, we have seen the transformation of brownfield sites along New Bridge Road, with schemes such as Helix, Rhino Products and the Progroup cardboard manufacturing plant, all supported through the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone.”