BBC’s Phil White finds variety and character at the Humber Enterprise Park
Speaking to wide a range of our tenants over the course of a two and a half hours, Phil found a broad mix of businesses growing alongside each other on what he formerly knew as the BAE Systems site.
Current site owner James Appleton-Metcalfe filled Phil in on the three-year rebranding project that the HEP has undergone, and the new businesses that have spawned there.
With the site growing up and changing a lot over 100 years, James spoke of how the HEP now has lots of different spaces that are attractive to lots of different types of tenants. The current list includes a brewery, a bookkeeper, an IT provider, aeronautical companies and manufacturing start-ups, with more on the way.
David and Nick of the Crafty Little Brewery told Phil how they had taken over the brewery four months ago. Surrounded by a smell of hops and yeast, Phil and the BBC Radio Humberside listeners learned how the pair have the capacity to brew an average of 4,000 litres of beer a week.
A recurring theme of the broadcast was of BAE Systems’ long history with the site, with many of the new businesses at the HEP employing ex-BAE staff.
Phil spoke to Danielle from Supercraft, an aerospace engineering company that employs several ex-BAE skilled workers in a 65,000sqft space.
Continuing the ex-BAE theme, Peter Melling of Black Cat Services told Phil how one of his first projects for Black Cat after leaving BAE involved the decommissioning of the company’s buildings.
Peter has worked at the site for over 24 years, and told Phil of how a slipway into the River Humber for sea planes, built by the aircraft manufacturer Robert Blackburn, still exists to this day.
The HEP’s rich heritage was frequently touched on by Phil, who commented on the impressive 80m vinyl building wraps that adorn the site’s entrance. James Appleton-Metcalfe told Phil that the site has things going for it that he “hasn’t seen anywhere else in the country”, with a perimeter running track and allotments on the way.
James proudly spoke of how due to its sense of history and community, the HEP is by far the most fun project he’s worked on.
He ended by commenting on how everyone he’s spoken to in the Brough area has a father, sister or brother who either works or used to work there, and with a relief road and a new primary school on the way, the whole area is changing and growing along with the HEP site itself.
It was a pleasure to host the Phil White On The Road show, and thankyou to all of our tenants that took part in the broadcast.
If you’re interested in learning more about the HEP, take a look at the other stories on our blog or take a 360 tour of our available office space here.
