Major investment in Leeds business park expansion

A deal has been reached with Kevin McCabe's Scarborough Group which will fund the expansion of Thorpe Park

Pensions and insurance giant Legal and General has taken a 50 per cent stake in the Thorpe Park business park, in Leeds, and promised to finance a long-awaited major expansion over five years.

The project is expected to create 3,000 construction jobs and a further 10,000 once businesses move onto the site.

It also promises to unlock land for around 7,000 homes through the construction of the first section of the planned East Leeds Orbital Road.

Legal and General will deliver the extension in partnership with Thorpe Park’s developer Scarborough Group, the property empire chaired by Sheffield United co-chairman Kevin McCabe.

Simon Marshall, senior excutive at Scarborough Group, said: “We believe that this scheme is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for East Leeds.

“In partnership with Legal & General and with the council’s on-going support, we are confident that in we can create a truly unique and forward thinking mixed-use community that will contribute hugely to the economic prosperity of the area, creating new jobs, homes and facilities for East Leeds.”

The deal is the first completed through the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO), the Government body set up to help attract funding for regeneration projects.

RIO chairman Sir Michael Bear said: “The United Kingdom is known internationally as an attractive place in which to invest in large-scale regeneration and infrastructure projects.

“For too long, however, investment has been focused on London and the South East.

“I am pleased that Legal & General have announced their first investment, under their partnership with UK Trade & Investment’s Regeneration Investment Organisation, alongside established developer Scarborough Group in Thorpe Park.

Thorpe Park is already a significant development and is home to large scale offices, restaurants and a hotel.

Earlier this year it received planning permission for the first phase of the extension which includes 60,000 sq ft of business space and 300 houses.

The Thorpe Park plans are part of the wider East Leeds Extension which will include the creation of a new 113-acre public park and a dual-carriageway sweeping around the existing north-east edge of the city.

Laura Mason, director of direct investments at Legal & General Capital, said: “This major development will help bring the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ to life, supporting the wider Leeds economy and acting as a major catalyst for further investment in the UK’s cities and regions.”