Willmott Dixon picked for Chorley digital business park

Chorley Council has chosen Willmott Dixon to deliver its £6m digital office park, which will provide 51,000 sq ft of office space for start-ups and SMEs.

The project at Euxton Lane is backed by £4.1m of European Regional Development Fund money, and was approved by council planners in 2016.

Designed by Howarth Litchfield Architects, the three-floor building will feature hot-desking, pods, and flexible offices and suites targeted at digital businesses and SMEs. Future developments around the site could also include an expansion of the business centre alongside housing.

The initial cost of the development was estimated at £7.1m but Willmott Dixon has secured the scheme on a contract worth £5.9m.

The digital business park is expected to open in 2019. The deal is the latest project to be secured by Willmott Dixon in the North West so far this year, after the contractor also won a £20m deal with Wythenshawe Community Housing Group to deliver 147 homes on a nine-acre site behind Manchester Enterprise Academy.

It also started work in March on Rochdale’s £80m Riverside shopping and leisure scheme, developed by Genr8 and Kajima in partnership with Rochdale Council.