Business in East Anglia

New Peterborough manufacturing site set to create 250 jobs

Birmingham-based Trebor Developments has submitted a new detailed planning application for a 645,000 sq ft manufacturing facility for an occupier on the former MARS Petcare site at Delta Park in Peterborough where 250 jobs could be created.

Trebor development manager Greg Dalton said: “We are absolutely delighted to have agreed terms for this significant manufacturing facility at such an early stage in the site’s development. We look forward to working with the occupier and local planning authority closely to achieve consent to allow a start on site in Q2 2022.”

The new occu...

House price growth in the East set to be ‘more muted’

After seeing above-average rises over the past decade house price growth in the East of England is set to be more muted next year, according to Savills. The property agent is forecasting house prices in the region will rise by three per cent in 2022 and by 10.4 per cent over the next five years. Prices in the East are also forecast to grow at slower rate than the UK average of 13.1 per cent over the next five years and 3.5 per cent in 2022. But at the higher end of the market – the top five to ten per cent by value – prices in the East are predicted to grow by 19.3 per cent over the...

Region’s firms busier but set for ‘costly winter’

Business activity picked up sharply in the region in October but cost inflation rose to a new series high according to a long-running survey of purchasing managers. Driven by material shortages and supply-chain problems, firms in the region faced rising fuel, transport, energy and wage costs which meant costs rose for the 17 ^th month running, says the NatWest East of England PMI survey.

The rate of inflation for prices charged by firms also quickened for the second month running. Meanwhile, the survey’s index of activity rose from 53.9 in September to 58.3 in October, pointing to a ‘rob...

New telecoms robotics test lab opens in Suffolk

BT has opened a new test lab in Suffolk which aims to put the UK at the forefront of robotics development for telecoms and civil engineering.

It is hoped that the new 5,000 sq ft facility will play a key role in developing solutions to speed the deployment of infrastructure, working with universities and utilities to trial a new range of UK-developed robotics. It is the first dedicated telecoms/civil engineering robotics test facility in the country, targetting problems such as clearing blocked ducts, mending collapsed ducts and installing new fibre network without digging up roads and...

Prime farmland prices climb in a ‘two tier’ market

Prime arable land prices in the East of England rose four per cent over the past year in a thin market driven by a shortage of supply and high demand. Figures from Savills show that 9,842 acres of farmland were publicly marketed across the region to the end of September this year, down eight per cent on the period last year. But demand remains strong with values for high quality arable land in the East now averaging £8,849 an acre. The average price for all types of farmland in the region sits at £8,227 an acre, up three per cent on 2020 and 16 per cent higher than the GB average.

Oliv...