IMAGES depicting the vision for a new business and retail development in Ulverston have been unveiled.

A public consultation on plans for a new business and retail development adjacent to the Blue Light Hub, at the Beehive in Ulverston, will take place on Tuesday September 5 at the Coronation Hall from 1pm to 7pm. The event will give the people of Ulverston and businesses in the town their opportunity to comment on the plans after seeing the details of the proposed scheme.

The Beehive development will deliver almost 300 jobs and will include a Marks and Spencer Food Hall and an Aldi store on the site on the A590. The scheme will see a number of non-retail businesses moving into purpose-built units.

They will include Lake District Farmers, which is relocating its high-quality meat processing hub from its current base in Tebay. Ulverston-based engineering consultancy Furness Engineering and Technology Ltd has chosen to remain in Ulverston and move from its current base at Ellers Mill. Other businesses based on the site, if the plans go ahead, will include a solicitors’ practice, vet’s surgery and an insurance office.

The M&S Food Hall and Aldi store could together create more than 70 jobs. Combined with almost 50 jobs at the Blue Light Hub itself, the development could see more than 300 workers based at the Beehive on the A590.

The plans are being prepared by the Rawdon Property Group, an experienced developer of commercial and retail projects in the UK.

Director Brian Scott said the consultation event was an important opportunity to explain to local people and businesses the scale of the project and the benefits it will bring to Ulverston.

He said: “The plans are designed to prioritise the job creation objectives of the planning designation for the site, while introducing the retail element which will make the Beehive viable for development. We believe that bringing two leading retailers to the town will encourage more local people to see Ulverston as their first choice for shopping, instead of travelling to Barrow or Kendal.

“We have secured more than an acre of extra land in addition to the original designated site to provide extra space for job creation alongside the retail stores on the site. We have also worked hard with the assistance of Furness Economic Development Forum to create an attractive proposition to encourage growing companies to remain in Ulverston and relocate to the town.”

An outline overview of the site shows how the proposed scheme will accommodate existing Ulverston businesses and new companies moving to the town. The planned M&S Food Hall and Aldi store will occupy less than 25 per cent of the site, leaving around seven acres adjacent to the Blue Light Hub to provide purpose-built accommodation for FETL, Lake District Farmers and other businesses. Engineering and design consultancy FETL is based at Ellers Mill in Ulverston but for some time it has been seeking a more modern headquarters suitable for expanding its 40-strong workforce to take advantages of opportunities, including projects at BAE Systems in Barrow, and in the nuclear sector.

Manager Craig Fox explains: “Ideally we want to remain in Ulverston but we have looked at alternative locations on the West Coast. The Beehive provides an ideal solution giving the opportunity to create a purpose-built new headquarters to perfectly meet our requirements.

“It will also have the space for expanding our workforce which could almost double as a result of the work streams we are developing for the future. That expanding workforce will include taking on young people and apprentices to build the high-quality skill base which is at the centre of FETL’s success, and it is important to have a base which is easily accessible.”

Lake District Farmers has been hugely successful in developing the market for high quality Cumbrian-farmed meat demanded by top chefs across the UK and in London hotels. The business is based in Tebay after moving from Lindal following a major fire two years ago.

But LDF is very keen to move back to south Cumbria where most of its workforce still lives. Having premises built to its specification will also be a huge advantage for Lake District Farmers which prides itself on the skills of its workforce and efficiency of its meat preparation.

Managing director Dan Austin explains: “We have specialist chillers for ageing the meat purchased from carefully-selected Cumbrian suppliers to deliver the quality and characteristics our highly-knowledgeable customers expect. We pride ourselves on the traditional butchery skills of our workforce but it is a high-tech operation designed to the highest standards and our new facility will be state-of- the-art in food preparation terms.

“Our current premises are reaching their limit for the amount of business we can handle, so the sooner we move back into the Furness area the sooner we can continue to grow the business.”

Furness Economic Development Forum programme/project manager Stuart Klosinski said: “We have been working with businesses in Furness to make them aware of the options for relocation of their existing expanding businesses facilities to new business park sites at the Waterfront and another site in Barrow, and at The Beehive in Ulverston. The Beehive has emerged as the preferred option decided on by the directors of FETL and Lake District Farmers.”