Boulevard Industry Park
Speke Halewood has long been a centre of excellence for both the automotive and biopharmaceutical industries, and Boulevard Industry Park was conceived with the aim of building on this success by providing high-quality buildings for companies in these sectors.
The former Speke Garston Development Company initiated £15 million worth of reclamation work on the 65 acre site in 1998 with preferred developer Intercity (now UK Land and Property) in preparation for the development of up to 93,000 square metres of new industrial and commercial space. The infrastructure contract included site preparation, the installation of sewers and the provision of utilities, access roads and landscaping.
Boulevard Industry Park has so far attracted £100 million of new investment and almost 1,000 jobs in the following businesses:
- Evans Medical, who expanded their existing adjacent site at Gaskill Road onto the park with two phases including a new research and development facility totalling £44 million and creating 320 new additional jobs. Evans was subsequently acquired by Chiron, and more recently Chiron has been taken over by Novartis. The Novartis plant, today employs over 700 people, and makes Fluvirin, a triple-antigen flu vaccine, approved for sale in more than 20 countries;
- MedImmune who focus on using biotechnology to produce innovative products and flu vaccines. Their plant employs 130 people;
- Merplas (originally the US-based Conix Corporation) who employ 100 people in a £20 million plant manufacturing bumpers and associated exterior products for the nearby Ford Jaguar plant;
- Lear, another US-based company who employ 115 people making 150,000 car seats per annum;
- Visteon, who invested £4.2 million in a 7,000 sq m facility creating 70 jobs making car instrument panels;
- Car assemblies and pressings firm Stadco, who invested £3 million in a new manufacturing facility which now employs 50 people;
- Coughlin Logistics - part of Michigan-based FX Coughlin - who service the adjacent factory of seat manufacturer Lear but has the potential to meet the requirements of other customers as well;
- Birmingham-based car fastenings firm Infast who invested £1.8 million in a new 2,500 sq m facility, creating more than 40 jobs; and
- Powderject Pharmaceuticals who invested a further £70 million in its Speke operation before being taken over by Novartis.
Map showing project location
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