UKSPA Breakthrough Issue 3 SPA03.ebook_hr | Page 61

31k carefully planned and shaped the centre and the services it should offer, and its location at Stoneleigh Park provided its tenants with the opportunity to branch out into bigger premises onsite and join the world-class companies that excel in this collaborative environment. T u r n i n g H S 2 D is r u p t i o n s i n t o P o si t i v e P o t e n t ial There are always challenges in delivering a long-term plan on such a large estate – and HS2 running through the grounds certainly falls into that category! Clearly no-one wants HS2 coming through their land, but when the plans became a reality we had come to terms with the situation, and the team here has endeavoured to turn what could have been a negative into a positive. It has prompted us to take another look at the park as a whole and refresh its future by identifying further opportunities to best accommodate existing and future developments. As you would expect, LaSalle has been actively working for some time on behalf of tenants to mitigate potentially negative impacts resulting from the railway project. While HS2 clearly has implications for the layout and development of the site, we remain confident that going forward it will very much be business as usual. The latest annual survey of tenants at Stoneleigh Park supports this by showing a record number of businesses and employees onsite, demonstrating growth and a commitment to the site. The survey conducted earlier this year shows 100 businesses are based here, employing 1,298 people – and with those numbers forecast to rise over the next 12 months, the future certainly looks prosperous. For more information contact Colin Hooper, Estates Director, Stoneleigh Park [email protected] stoneleighparkestate.com R e a d o n l i n e at: u k s pa . o r g . u k / b r e a k t h r o u g h kilometres of track stretch across the UK, taking into account multiple track routes High Speed 2 (HS2) is a new high-speed rail network linking London, the West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester. High Speed 1 (HS1) connects London to the Channel Tunnel. HS2 will be built in a Y configuration, with London at the bottom, Birmingham at the centre, Leeds at the top right and Manchester at the top left. Work on the first phase began in 2017 and is expected to reach Birmingham by 2026, then Crewe by 2027. HS2 should be fully completed by 2033.The cost of HS2 (over £42 billion for the track and £8 billion for the rolling stock) means it is arguably the most expensive single project ever attempted by a British government in peacetime. W i n t e r 2 0 17 | U KS PA b r e a k t h r o u g h | 61