News Room

Breckland Council and The Crown Estate have celebrated securing final funding of a £1.5 million grant from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) for the development of the Thetford Enterprise Park or TEP, a major quality 44 acre business park on the A11 at Thetford. The celebration event held on the designated site was attended by a range of local partners, business leaders and Council members. The funding completes the £5 million investment already made by the Council and The Crown Estate required to allow the £6.5 million project to proceed and provide the infrastructure for the business park, which could provide up to 1,000 new jobs and safeguarded others in the area. The funding is crucial to undertake access and servicing works for the site to facilitate and attract further private sector investment.


Thetford Enterprise Park came forward as part of the Council’s Rev business support project based in Thetford. Despite the current national economic downturn, considerable interest is already building from potential occupiers. The first investment of £8 million is to be made by Century Logistics which plans to start construction of its new 150,000 square feet flagship building this year following the receipt of planning consent.

The Thetford site had been designated in the Local Plan for employment use for over a decade but was of no interest to private developers due to the prohibitive access and servicing costs.

Council Leader William Nunn said “The Council and our joint project partners The Crown Estate have been working tirelessly on this project for a number of years. Without such innovative public intervention and leadership of this kind challenging sites of this nature would not come forward for investment. The Park will be a key first step in supporting the planned future housing and population growth in Thetford by creating quality employment and investment in the local economy. This project will allow our existing businesses to grow and attract new employers to the area”.

Steve Cox, Executive Director for Strategy and Development at EEDA, said “EEDA is providing further support for the advanced engineering and manufacturing base in Norfolk by investing in projects such as the Thetford Enterprise Park. This engineering “corridor” - with Thetford Enterprise Park at one end and Hethel Engineering Centre at the other - will boost the economy of the county and the region attracting businesses and create jobs.”

Nick Harper, Head of Regional Development at The Crown Estate, said “We are delighted to be working with Breckland Council on this important project. It is a good example of the way that The Crown Estate works with local stakeholders to bring forward development for the benefit of the community on its landholdings across the country”.

Mark Stanton, Breckland’s Head of Economic Development and project lead, said “With development plans at Snetterton Race Circuit and Hethel Engineering Centre, which will coincide with the delivery of Thetford’s largest non retail park in the last 40 years, the A11 is fast becoming one of the hottest investment areas for ambitious engineering and motorsport companies in the UK”.

TEP will have sustainability and low carbon principles embedded into its DNA and will kick start the development of Thetford and the A11 corridor forming the business gateway to Norfolk.

Contact: Mark Stanton, Tel: 07748116933 or email mark.stanton@breckland.gov.uk

REV and Hethel Engineering Centre recently exhibited at MACH 2008, the UK’s premier manufacturing technologies event. The week long event was attended by over 27,000 visitors, an increase of 21% on the previous show. In addition to large numbers of visitors, business at the show was very positive, with one exhibitor taking a £10m order. General feedback and sales at the show would suggest a positive outlook for the industry.

TheManufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) invited the Rev team to join them on their stand at the recent Auto sport International Exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, on the 13 – 14th January.

The MTA was formed in 1919 and is the UK’s leading trade association representing the engineering and allied sectors. They promote UK companies and their associates who drive UK manufacturing technology innovation and quality.

Auto sport International is the world’s premier motor sport annual exhibition held at the NEC in Birmingham with exhibits from all disciplines of the sport on display under one roof.

Eleven halls of exhibitors included the technical sophistication of Formula One, durability of rally cars, heritage of historic racers, agility of karts and high-powered super engines with the smell of burning rubber.

Promoting the strength of the advanced engineering and motorsport in Norfolk the Rev team met with dozens of businesses interested in finding out more about the opportunities in the region.

The Rev team has recently moved into offices at Breckland House Business Centre, St Nicholas Street, Thetford and are readily available to assist local businesses and organisations working in the target sectors develop and grow.

To contact Alastair, Jonathan or Mark telephone 01842 756529 or email enquiries@revproject.com

Two key appointments have been announced at the Hethel Engineering Centre.

From Monday March 5, Simon Coward, 37, will take up the role of Director of the centre, with Dorian Hindmarsh, 30, having already recently taken up the newly created position of Training Sales Manager.

Simon graduated from Birmingham University and started his career in the chemical industry - working for such companies as BNFL and Shell, both in the UK and Italy.
Then following training (Fellowship in Manufacturing Management) at Cranfield University, Simon moved into manufacturing management working for Polimoon at Thetford and Beccles, and more recently SCA Tuscarora - supplying the automotive industry, including such customers as Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Land Rover and Jaguar.

Simon moves back to Norfolk from County Durham with his wife and two young sons to take-up the position.

He said:
"I am delighted to have been appointed to this post and am excited at the challenges and opportunities this role will bring.

"I am looking forward to supporting the creation and development of new businesses, providing high quality and focused training and spreading best practice and new ideas throughout industry.

"I look forward to working with the team at the Hethel Engineering Centre in furthering the centre's goal to be a prominent focus for industry, aimed at having a significant impact on the future of the East of England’s engineering and manufacturing sectors."

Dorian (BEng PhD), 30, was raised in a small village in County Durham, before going on to graduate from the University of East Anglia after studying Electronic Engineering.

In the past he has been involved with Lotus Engineering to develop a new software tool for a specialist application, and with the link to the UEA was able to finish a PhD and help cement ties to both research organisations.

More recently he worked in the B2B IT sector for a national high profile IT provider - supplying business solutions for companies in Norfolk.