The largest speculative industrial development in Bristol for 20 years got underway this week, with construction starting on 580,000 sq ft of prime space. 
The building work marks the first phase of Horizon38, a 65-acre, £120m business park on the former Rolls-Royce East Works site at Patchway.
The scheme’s joint venture partners and commercial property developers and investors St Francis Group and iSec confirmed ground works had been completed ahead of schedule on Horizon38, a 1m sq ft mixed-use development, and construction on the first units has started.
Buckingham Group have been appointed contractors on the development and moved onto site to begin work on the first phase of building works.
It is expected that in this first phase of development a range of new industrial and distribution units will be ready and available for occupation by as early as July next year.
They form part of a new 1m sq ft mixed-use development offering opportunities for industrial, warehousing, trade, office, hotel and car showroom development.
St Francis Group development director Gareth Williams said: “This is an exciting phase of development. With the entire site now cleared and levelled you can clearly see the scale of development proposed at Horizon38.
“It is the first major employment scheme to come out of the ground in north Bristol for 20 years.
“We’ve engaged with the local business community and look forward to working with them to satisfy their requirements for high-quality new industrial and distribution accommodation and to welcoming new businesses into the area.
“For a long time local occupiers have struggled with little or no available stock. That’s all about to change now with the development at Horizon 38.”
The 580,000 sq ft of industrial employment space is being built in four phases and funded by BP Pension Fund.
Horizon38 will have 27 units, with the first completed logistics and manufacturing space coming on stream next summer with later phases completed in 2018.
Horizon38 is a landmark strategic development site, directing fronting onto the A38, near the former Filton airfield and the Airbus wing and Rolls-Royce engine manufacturing plants.
It is in the Filton Enterprise Area – the largest and most significant regeneration and inward investment project in the South West.
Pictured on the Horizon 38 site, from left: Giles Weir of JLL; Mike Forster of iSec; Gareth Williams from St Francis Group; and Chris Kershaw of GVA
