BOLD Issue 1 by 3Fox

Contents

4 News

26 town centre

News about the regeneration of Barking and Dagenham

A study in successful regeneration, we find out why Barking town centre keeps winning awards

6 Quality of life We introduce Barking and Dagenham – what it’s like to live here and what draws businesses to invest

13 MAP A snapshot of the main development opportunities

15 projects Developments under way and what is being planned – a round up of opportunities in the borough

Executive editor: Siobhán Crozier head of design: Rachael Schofield Art Direction: Smallfury Designs freelance editor: Sarah Herbert HeAd of business development: Paul Gussar business development manager: Shelley Cook prOduction assistants: Jeri Dumont, Emily Corrigan Doyle Office manager: Sue Mapara subscriptions manager: Simon Maxwell Managing director: Toby Fox

Facts and figures on Barking and Dagenham’s commercial and residential markets

36 Sustainability

49 Business focus

Dagenham Dock is a huge investment opportunity in the capital’s former industrial heartlands, home to London Sustainable Industries Park

We profile a business with deep roots in Barking, one of the world’s largest container shipping lines, Hapag-Lloyd

One of the UK’s largest residential opportunities, Barking Riverside, will establish a new community alongside the Thames

46 s trategy An interview with Councillor Cameron Geddes on the council’s vision and priorities for regeneration

Printed by: Bishops Printers Published by: 3Fox International Ltd Lower ground floor, 189 Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TB T: 020 7978 6840

34 markets

40 new quarter

cover IMAGE: Bath House and the Lemonade Building, Barking town centre IMAGES: Barking and Dagenham Council, Tim Crocker, Rooff, van Heyningen and Haward Architects, Closed Loop Recycling, James Brittain, David Tothill, HapagLloyd, GLE Property Developments, Barking & Dagenham College, SportHouse, Tim Soar, Rob Parrish, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Laing O’Rourke

50 Transport We look at the infrastructure in place in Barking and Dagenham and hear the case for the DLR extension

52 legacy

For Barking and Dagenham Council Town Hall 1 Town Square Barking G11 7LU Subscriptions and feedback: boldmagazine.co.uk © 3Fox International Limited 2012. All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of 3Fox International Limited is strictly forbidden. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for omissions or errors. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of 3Fox International Limited or Barking and Dagenham Council.

Sanofi’s strong and sustainable employment legacy, with the potential to base 1,300 jobs on the new Businesseast site

NewS

BBC reality star boosts skills academy One of the stars of this year’s hit show The Apprentice returned to his Barking roots to spread the word about the new Technical Skills Academy. Michael Copp, a 31-year-old managing director, who faced the dreaded finger of business mogul Lord Alan Sugar, said the academy will provide new job opportunities.

Academy Central A new development of up to 900 homes is taking shape on the former University of East London’s Barking campus. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has teamed up with housing association L&Q on the Academy Central scheme, which has already seen a new school built. The project will complete in 2016. 4

Barking up the hoardings The Up! Barking art project for 16 to 25-year-olds has created hoardings on the former Westbury Arms pub site in Ripple Road, Barking. Artists Michael Eshun, William Kadet and Tasham J Baptiste, are pictured with project leader Kiran Chahal and Cllr Cameron Geddes.

Apprentice founder moves on The leading social entrepreneur, Gordon D’Silva OBE, with Kelvin Campbell, is working on a new regeneration venture, Smart Urbanism. Cited by The Guardian as one of the UK’s top social entrepreneurs, D’Silva founded Training for Life, which initially funded and now runs the Barking Apprentice restaurant, a social enterprise which supports people back into work through training. Of Smart Urbanism, D’Silva said: “We’re taking the same business model, looking at how we could have an impact on neighbourhoods and city areas.” Ideas include projects to build cheaper homes. Smart Urbanism Bathhouse experience Experimental design practice Something & Son has created a spa with a difference in Barking town centre. The Barking Bathhouse – which will also serve healthy cocktails – opened on 13 July. The designers said they were inspired by the area’s industrial architectural heritage. barkingbathhouse.com

expects to soon announce a partnership with a multinational energy provider to develop a retrofit scheme to address fuel poverty. The organisation also works with universities to link urban planning with social entrepreneurship. An early project aims to benefit east London homes, says D’Silva: “We’re developing a project on fuel efficiency that would be profitable, addressing a social need, to benefit families on low incomes and older groups.” Smart Urbanism is also working on investment strategies for the Olympic Park and its fringe areas in east London.

Bold | News

Olympic gold for recycling

Gazelle calls to entrepreneurs Barking & Dagenham College called on local businesses to support student entrepreneurs at the launch of its Gazelle Local initiative in June. It aims to establish a network of local businesses and entrepreneurs which will collaborate with colleges, principals and students helping to develop a more entrepreneurial attitude within the Further Education (FE) sector. Local entrepreneurs, business owners and philanthropists attended an event to mark the college’s 50th anniversary (pictured above), where they heard about Gazelle Local from principal and chief executive Cathy Walsh. Entrepreneurs were invited to support the initiative through sponsorship of student businesses and college

activity, by mentoring students, tutors and leaders, or offering opportunities for students to pitch for seed funding. Walsh is one of the group of 17 Gazelle principals from around the UK, who work with private and public sector leaders to promote entrepreneurship among FE students. Walsh said: “Gazelle Local builds on the entrepreneurial work we are already delivering at the college. These new partnerships will help to stimulate economic activity and provide students with a range of opportunities to learn from first-hand from the experts. “We aim to boost work opportunities and growth in our region so that the college becomes emblematic of what Gazelle is about.”

London 2012 will create a legacy of jobs in packaging and recycling, according to Chris Dow, CEO of Dagenham’s Closed Loop Recycling: “We are a javelin-throw from the Games and due to our supply relationship with Transport for London to collect plastic bottles from the Tube, and our contracts with several London boroughs, we’re preparing to receive Bouygues London Road additional volumes of £48 million plastic bottles, as a Bouygues result of the increased Development has numbers of people.” announced that an agreement for lease has been exchanged with Asda on its £48 million mixed-use scheme in London Road, Barking. More details are in the Projects section on page 22.

Wildlife thrives The world’s largest bee house, made out of 20,000 pieces of bamboo and 200 logs, is an environmental success at Barking Riverside. London Wildlife Trust volunteers made pieces for the structure to provide homes for the insect colony. The Barking Riverside community’s proximity to wildlife is one of its most attractive aspects.

Bold | Quality of life

Eastern promise With the eyes of the world fixed on London, homebuyers, investors and relocating employers are shifting their gaze just east of the gleaming Olympic Park, to the huge potential of Barking and Dagenham. Lucy Purdy explores

Bold | Quality of life

rom swathes of brownfield land ripe for development, to a skilled population borne out of the borough’s rich manufacturing heritage, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is perfectly poised to make the most of the capital’s shift eastwards. The area has a winning combination of a local authority with a ‘can do’ attitude, together with a new wave of entrepreneurial start-ups – the elements for sustainable business development. When you throw into the mix a stock of diverse and affordable housing, enviable transport links and a whole raft of major regeneration projects, you have a recipe for success, not only for 2012 but far into the future. Only 24 minutes from Liverpool Street station, just over an hour’s drive to Heathrow, 36 minutes to Stansted Airport and 22 minutes to London City Airport, Barking and Dagenham has excellent road and public transport links. The borough is mid-way between central London and the Essex section of the M25, with a huge potential market. It is also within easy reach of the attractive Essex countryside. “The District line runs straight through the borough, there’s the overhead rail link to north London or buses in and out of London – you can’t beat the transport links,” says Michael O’Brien, director of Dagenham-based Ramsey Moore estate agents. “The market is really buoyant at the moment. Here in Barking and Dagenham we’re a firsttime buyer market, the first to see changes and start off all the chains. It is also very ethnically diverse: we see Filipino, Ugandan, Nigerian and Lithuanian buyers. 7

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Bold | Quality of life

“We have a lot of houses and it is still quite cheap, so a young couple can afford to buy a house here when they perhaps can’t elsewhere. So property is coming on to the market at the right price and it is selling. We are enjoying some really good months – there is a lot of positivity right now.” The council still manages and maintains around 20,000 properties – one of the largest social housing stocks in London – after tenants voted overwhelmingly to keep the authority as their landlord. Earlier this year the borough became the first in London to secure private financing for the development of social housing. A property developer and a contractor have put up capital for the creation of nearly 500 affordable units, which will be available to rent for between 50% and 80% of the market value. In a pioneering move, the freehold remains the council’s property. “People think of Newham and Stratford as the new boom areas, but actually there is a lot more potential just that bit further out. In Barking and Dagenham we have some of London’s best value land and affordable premises in good locations,” says David Harley, group manager for economic development at Barking and Dagenham Council. And it really is booming: noteworthy recent and current developments include the Barking Learning Centre, Dagenham Library, Becontree Leisure Centre, the new skills centre in the London Road/North Street regeneration project and new business and enterprise centres. “We are one of the Olympic host boroughs. Such is the potential

for growth, they will come to be renamed ‘growth boroughs’, which will in turn support the national economy,” Harley says. Peter Harris, vice president of Barking and Dagenham Chamber

Barking and Dagenham firms,” adds Harris. “The whole world will be looking at east London soon, for the Olympics. East London is going to be on the map and we will enjoy real success from that.” Barking and Dagenham has long been associated with manufacturing and is particularly well known for its enduring relationship with Ford. Ford Dagenham still has a presence in the borough and will reach a poignant milestone later this year, having built 40 million engines since the factory opened in 1931. But things have moved on too. Most businesses in Barking and Dagenham today are in the wholesale and retail distribution sector, alongside financial and business services, transport, storage, communications and construction companies. The area also has a growing reputation for green businesses with impressive sustainable credentials. One of its latest success stories is Closed Loop Recycling (pictured left) – the of Commerce, established his world’s first recycler of food motor business almost six years grade PET and HDPE plastic ago and has lived in the borough bottles. Capable of taking 35,000 for 25 years. He says there is a tonnes of recovered plastic lot to be proud of, not least its bottles for processing each year, tight-knit business community, the company scooped a major which has gone from strength to industry accolade at the National strength in recent years. Recycling Awards last year for “This borough remains the advances in this field. most cost-effective place to run Closed Loop employs 97 fulla business, because the prices of time staff as well as 20 people property and land are among the on contract and operates 24/7 best value in London,” he says. from its energy-efficient building “We also have a local authority on the London Sustainable which is absolutely committed to Industries Park. boosting the business community. Marketing manager Nick Cliffe “In last year’s East London says: “Dagenham is in the richest Chamber of Commerce Awards, source of plastic bottles in the UK open to 10 boroughs, five out – more are produced within the of seven awards were won by M25 than in any other place in the

“The prices of property and land are among the best value in London”

Bold | Quality of life

UK. There is also such a talented pool of people with engineering skills in this area,” he says.“The east London corridor is becoming known for these facilities because there are so many people who have worked in industrial and waste settings. There are really good transport links and opportunities for synergy between different eco industries.” Another success is SportHouse (pictured right), the UK’s biggest sports club, set in 16 hectares of open parkland in Mayesbrook Park. As one of just three newlybuilt Olympic training venues, SportHouse will be used by handball, judo and wheelchair rugby athletes, and received a £3.9 million investment from the Olympic Delivery Authority. It is open to the public as a leisure centre with brand new facilities. The centre is in demand for its state-of-the-art, 300-station gym, 250-cover restaurant and bar and, most of all, its 5,000sq m sports hall (above left), the UK’s largest and capable of accommodating three Boeing 747s. Later this year, SportHouse will host an English and Danish international match of futsal – a type of indoor football. “The Olympics were the catalyst but we have built a sports centre for the local community,” says project consultant Mark Harrop. “It’s affordable and accessible, yet provides world-class facilities.” Barking & Dagenham College is a powerhouse of an educational establishment with 12,000 students, 700 of whom are apprentices in a wide range of industries. The college offers 800 courses, from acting, business studies and brickwork, to plumbing, graphic design 10

and photography. It works with companies of all sizes, from household names such as Ford, to the sole traders and start-ups which are breathing new life into the local economy. The college, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in the 2011/12 academic year, received an award for outstanding entrepreneurship in learning and skills by the Times Educational Supplement in November 2011. Preparing students for the world of work is the priority. “The spirit of innovation in London is moving ever eastwards, and with it comes a wealth of opportunity for the borough and the college,” says principal and chief executive Cathy Walsh. This goes from the predicted growth of the creative and technology industries through to the Thames Gateway Regeneration area and its focus on industry and sustainable technologies. “As a college we are already responding to this opportunity by tailoring the subjects we offer,” says Walsh. This year will see the launch of the Technical Skills Academy, a multimillion pound centre which will provide quality education and training for young people aged from 14 to 19, in a real work environment. “It is our job to offer courses that lead to jobs and that will always be at the centre of what we do,” she says. As Barking and Dagenham residents took to the streets to welcome the Olympic Flame this summer, they began to see immediate benefits as Barking and Dagenham rides the Olympic wave. In the long-term, investment will bring forward even greater opportunities.

Bold | Quality of life

TRANSPORTS OF DELIGHT

Mark Samson and Patience Sibanda, Access to Science students at Barking & Dagenham College.

Anyone exploring Barking and Dagenham would be well advised to grab a camera and get set to snap away at the boroughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wide range of public art. Ambitious in breadth and innovative in design, the A13 Artscape was developed in partnership with Transport for London. The project involved 17 artists and organisations working on ideas to improve the environmental impact on this thoroughfare. Hi-tech sculptures in thought-provoking rhythmic forms, by Irish architect Tom de Paor, line the trunk road corridor making travelling through the borough a much more visually stimulating experience. Elsewhere, sculptor Loraine Leeson drew from the boroughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Saxon history of involvement in the fishing industry to create The Catch (below), which sits on the Fanshawe Avenue roundabout in Barking. The artwork derives from Celtic knot work and represents two nets being cast, propelled by the force of a wave. It is made from rolled aluminum and symbolises a future teeming with possibility.

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Bold | Map Romford & Shenfield >

Development Map Projects in Barking town centre 01 Barking Central/Barking Town Square 02 Child and Family Health Centre 03 Barking Leisure Centre site (Barking Bathhouse site for summer 2012) 04 Technical Skills Academy/ Short Blue Place 05 London Road/ North Street site 06 William Street Quarter 07 Barking Enterprise Centre 08 Vicarage Field 09 Existing Abbey Leisure Centre (development opportunity) 10 Gascoigne Estate 11 Abbey Retail Park 12 Tanner Street 13 Barking Station 14 Fresh Wharf 15 Barking Park 16 Cambridge Road site

A406 < Stratford and Liverpool St

Dagenham Heathway

Upminister> Businesseast

Barking

Barking town centre including Creative Industries Quarter A13

Dagenham East

Dagenham Dock

Beam Park

< West Ham Tower Hill Fenchurch St

Southend>

London Sustainable Industries Park

Barking Riverside

15 12 06 07 16 05

08 01

02 09 03

The Granary

M25>

Where do regeneration finance professionals go for information and advice? WWW.SOCINVEST.CO.UK SocInvest.co.uk provides an enhanced news and information service to regeneration funding and finance professionals. The site is accompanied by a weekly email news service sent to 16,000 subscribers FREE every Thursday. The site provides news and analysis of all the latest news affecting: / Private and affordable housing finance / Council property joint ventures / Enterprise zones / Institutional investment in infrastructure / Sources of European funding / Government policy and regeneration initiatives The site also contains an intelligence section linking to all the latest publications affecting the sector, plus special reports on in-depth topics from SocInvest Thought Leaders.

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Demonstrate your expertise on socinvest.co.uk If you would like to become an expert Thought Leader like GVA Financial Consulting, who are currently publishing their report on how the public sector can intervene to enable property finance, then contact Paul Gussar on 0207 978 6840 or paul@3foxinternational.com

Bold | Projects

Projects

Barking Riverside Barking Riverside, a joint venture between Bellway Homes and the Greater London Authority, is one of the largest brownfield schemes in Europe and will create a vibrant new community for 26,000 people over the next 25 years. The 2km landscaped waterfront development will comprise four neighbourhoods and create 1,500 jobs. It will include healthcare, shopping, community and leisure facilities, along with new public transport links. Of its 185-ha, 41% will be green space, including an ecology park, with areas linked by parkland, cycle routes and footpaths, as well as play and sports areas. To attract families to the new quarter, 31% of its 10,800

residential units will be homes of more than three bedrooms. All the houses will be built to Code for Sustainable Homes level 4, with photovoltaic panels, green roofs and rainwater harvesting. Each house will have a private back yard as well as access into a communal courtyard providing more open space and play facilities for children. Construction of 3,300 homes in stage one started in February 2010 with the development of four plots, comprising 358 homes including flats and family homes. Of these, 47% are affordable housing, owned and managed by Southern Housing Group. Two plots are about to be completed, providing 161 homes. 15

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Bold | Projects

Creative Industries Quarter On the River Rodingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s east bank, in former industrial units, an artistic hub is taking shape, with a scheme for a creative industries quarter, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen. SPACE Studios manage the restored Malthouse, housing Arc Theatre, Studio 3 Arts, and visual artists and photographers. Architects Pollard Thomas Edwards designed the adjacent Granary, with its bronze-clad extension and restoration by Rooff, which has relocated its headquarters from Stratford to the building. The Granary provides five floors of office and studio space, with a cafe bar and riverside terrace.

Planning permission has been granted for phase two, which will create 272 homes, further workspaces and community facilities, in four blocks, all set around a series of courtyards and riverside space. Due to begin later in 2012, the scheme will allow for Transport for Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s East London Transit bus route to operate across the site. A new bridge over the river will reconnect the area with its surroundings, using easyto-navigate routes. Architect Cartwright Pickard aims to create a vibrant place for residents and tenants to live and work, a creative hub and destination for visitors and the local community.

Bold | Projects

hames View, T Eastern End

Businesseast This 44-ha soon-to-be-vacated industrial site (pictured above) will become a premier location for science, research and development and manufacturing. Current occupier Sanofi has been there for 76 years but is closing its manufacturing plant in 2013. It is working with regeneration and property specialists to leave a legacy of jobs and facilities that will benefit the local community – and make maximum use of the site – under the name Businesseast. The site, opposite Dagenham East underground station, will offer dry and wet laboratory space, sterile and temperaturecontrolled buildings, air handling systems, micro labs and associated offices for rental or purchase, all of which would be prohibitively expensive to build from scratch. Some of the existing lab 18

Identified in 2006 as one of six housing regeneration areas in Barking and Dagenham, this neighbourhood’s estate renewal scheme started in 2008, with the demolition of the high-rise and low-rise blocks at the eastern end of the Thames View estate. Following various funding and design delays, a new design team, Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects and Jerram Falkus was appointed at the end of 2010 and a masterplan drawn up. The new proposals outlined a mix of one, two and three-bed flats in duplex blocks, as well as a range of three and fourbedroom houses. Each house will have private outdoor space, with groups of homes facing on to small buildings can be developed into courtyards, along with parking individual units for research, or and play space. as the base for start-up The new design is in line with companies in sectors such as existing principles that emerged R&D, biotech, pharmaceutical during the 2009 consultation or bioscience. with residents, and will include In March 2012 planning improvements to health, permission was granted for education and community retention of some of the existing facilities, new sports and leisure buildings, a health facility centres, better use of green for GPs with dental school, a space, and improvements to local training centre, a supermarket streets and roads. with a petrol station, an An ‘urban edge’ to the design 80-bedroom hotel and restaurant, has defined the boundaries of warehousing, and two floodlit the estate, and will also provide a synthetic football pitches, with half the site devoted to community frontage that enables passersby use – including sporting facilities to see in. Planning permission was and recreational land. The project granted by the London mayor could create up to 2,500 jobs. in December 2011, following An area of 20-ha of green belt on the site is being put forward as earlier approval by Barking and Dagenham Council. Remedial part of a Community Trust, with works were under way, and work several pockets of vacant land was set to start on site as BOLD intended to become part of the went to press in summer 2012. neighbouring country park.

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Bold | Projects

London Sustainable Industries Park London Sustainable Industries Park (LSIP) in Dagenham Dock aims to host the largest concentration of environmental technology businesses in the UK and to be a net exporter of renewable resources. The site is home to cutting edge, sustainable technologies, from recycling and renewable energy, to the manufacture of sustainable construction materials and R&D. It is one of the key projects in the mayor of London’s Green Enterprise District, and is expected to attract around £500 million in private sector investment and generate £35 million public sector revenue. The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation – which owned the site until April 2012 when it transferred it to the Greater London Authority

(GLA) – expected the 25-ha park to create about 1,400 jobs and generate investment of around £82 million. Central to the LSIP’s ethos is enabling occupants to use waste materials to provide power or raw materials, providing cost savings, minimising on-site waste and encouraging innovation. Of its 125,000sq m of BREEAM excellent-rated space, 50% is either sold or under offer. Sites from 0.4 to 3 hectares are available on short or long leasehold terms. Design and build packages on a shell or turnkey basis can be provided from 200 to 20,000sq m. The first business on the park, Closed Loop Recycling, opened a plastics recycling facility in June 2008 and proposes to double the size of its existing plant.

South Dagenham AXA REIM has obtained planning consent for a 38,000sq m development on this 9.35-ha brownfield site at Merrielands Crescent in South Dagenham, which was formerly part of Ford’s car manufacturing plant. The site is capable of providing industrial and warehouse units from 465sq m to 11,600sq m under the masterplanned development scheme, but larger units of up to 30,000sq m could also be provided, subject to planning consent. The location is adjacent to the A13, Asda and Merrielands Retail Park, with good connections to the M25 and A406 North Circular Road. It is also close to Dagenham Dock station, from which trains reach the City via Fenchurch Street station in around 20 minutes. Development managers for the scheme are Roxhill Developments, and Knight Frank and Capita Symonds have been appointed as letting agents. The site is being marketed on the basis of freehold or leasehold design and build projects, with units being constructed to occupiers’ specific requirements. New developments can be delivered within 12 months of parties agreeing contracts. AXA REIM has also submitted a planning application for its 12-ha site at Box Lane in Barking, which includes a 3.6-ha rail freight terminal. The application is for four units, totalling 19,300sq m, which is about half of the site. With the exception of the rail terminal, the site is currently let to Exel / DHL as the logistics centre for the Olympic village.

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Beam Park East London’s largest brownfield site is on the redevelopment market. What is more, Beam Park (above), straddling the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering, is in the 2,500-ha London Riverside, the capital’s second largest opportunity area. The Greater London Authority (GLA)-owned Dagenham site – which was part of the former Ford car plant – could be turned into a multimillion pound leisure park with a new railway station and homes, plus commercial and industrial space, health and community facilities and new transport, all generating up to 3,000 jobs. Cleared of buildings and vacant, the site has been unused since Ford ceased operations in 2002. Now, both councils and the GLA

want to see Beam Park developed with a major leisure attraction, community facilities, shops, new homes and possibly a hotel. Such a development would boost the area’s image, providing a catalyst for the economy by creating employment. Development would further proposals for a Beam Park station and includes road improvements and car parking to accommodate additional traffic. The site is well located for the A13, which would be the principal access route for traffic generated by a development. In March, both councils approved a prospectus offering planning guidance to potential developers on the leisure-led development opportunities at Beam Park. 21

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Enterprise Centres Opened in November 2011 as one of two centres under the LEGI programme, Barking Enterprise Centre (below) provides space for small businesses and start-ups. Facilities include 50 office units of various sizes, and a business lounge, high-speed internet access, security, meeting rooms, a central reception space and kitchens on all four floors. The centre offers â&#x20AC;&#x153;easy-ineasy-outâ&#x20AC;? rental terms, pay-asyou-go admin and marketing services, and a business start-up and business support service. Just a few minutes walk from Barking Station, it has been created to conform to rigorous environmental design criteria, including photovoltaic cells and a biodiverse roof. Agilisys manages the centre and runs the boroughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business startup and business support service. Dagenham Business Centre (top) also opened in November 2011 on Rainham Road North. It provides a range of new high specification business units for sale or to let. The BREEAM excellent-rated building will provide high quality prestigious premises for a mix of businesses. All units come with parking and loading facilities, as well as frontages on to the main road. The Dagenham Business Centre faces leafy Central Park and is just minutes from the Civic Centre, a 10-minute drive to the A13 and 15 minutes from the M25. It was developed by GLE Property Developments Limited in partnership with the council. For more information visit: barkingenterprisecentre.co.uk, dagenhambusinesscentre.co.uk 22

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illiam Street W Quarter

Short Blue Place The gateway site between London Road, North Street and East Street is to be transformed. Phase one of the project will be a £14 million skills centre to give young people across the borough access to the very highest quality training. The Technical Skills Academy (TSA) has been commissioned by the council and will be run by Barking & Dagenham College. Alongside vocational training for 14 to 19-year-olds in hospitality, hair and beauty, construction and IT, will be a bistro on the ground floor, allowing the students a chance to train in a real working environment. The TSA is due for completion in September 2012. A new public space linking the TSA to East Street and the popular street market will be created this year. It is to be named Short Blue Place after the famous fishing fleet owned by Scotsman

Scrymgeour Hewett, who lived at the site. Funding for Short Blue Place includes Outer London Fund investment from the mayor of London. Bouygues Development has agreed a lease with Asda for a new superstore with underground parking, which will be located on the opposite side of Short Blue Place. Bouygues Development was recently granted planning permission for this £48 million scheme, which also includes 100 new high quality apartments with balconies. In addition to the superstore, the scheme includes a further six retail units and a total of 360 car parking spaces. The architect for the project is Chetwoods. Completion is scheduled for April 2015. These developments will boost town centre trade and ensure Barking’s economy is competitive for the future.

This 2.5-ha site in Barking town centre has been largely empty since 2008, when the run-down Lintons estate was demolished. Of a masterplan drawn up that year, two elements have now been built: 31 houses at Anne Mews (pictured below) – the first council housing built in the borough for 27 years, and the Barking Enterprise Centre, completed in 2011. The original masterplan could not be completed due to funding constraints but in 2011 architects Alford Hall Monaghan Morris and Maccreanor Lavington completed a revised masterplan. The second phase of William Street Quarter is one of two projects (with the Eastern End of Thames View – see page 18) that will deliver a total of 477 affordable housing units using an innovative funding and delivery model. The project is privately funded and delivered by a consortium of Laing O’Rourke, Jerram Falkus, Long Harbour and Explore Investments.William Street Quarter will comprise 201 units, in a range of flats, duplex blocks and houses, of one to four bedrooms. The development will be completed by June 2014.

A new generAtion of regenerAtion

Long Harbour is focused on providing long term capital engineered to aid in the development and regeneration of UK housing and infrastructure whilst leaving ownership and total control with local authorities. Long Harbour is proud to be working in partnership with Barking and Dagenham to provide the first totally private funded affordable social housing scheme in the UK. New solutions, a new generation of regeneration. To find out more about Long Harbour, contact us at: info@longharbour.co.uk

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New heart for Barking The transformation of central Barking from a town centre in marked decline, to a bright, spacious, award-winning destination, is one of the UK’s most striking recent regeneration success stories, breathing new life into the heart of the borough. David Gray tells the story

decade ago, Barking town centre was blighted by disjointed public spaces, outdated social housing blocks and the decline of local industry. Now it’s a patchwork of beautiful parks and spaces, fresh public buildings, new homes and a revitalised riverfront, making Barking a key town in the Thames Gateway. Conceived back in 1999 and delivered in two phases, this has been a highly complex mixeduse scheme. The first phase, from 2002 to 2007, transformed the existing library into the contemporary Barking Learning Centre with a large residential development, the Ropeworks, above it. Opening its doors in 2007, the learning centre turned the former library building into a modern, relevant and successful resource. With conference space, cafe, art gallery and classrooms, it now opens until 10pm and has enjoyed a surge in users. From 2007 to 2010, the second phase included a hotel, retail units and three residential buildings – Bath House, the

Lemonade Building and Axe House. All new structures have been designed to lend consistency to the town centre and bring the area’s history sharply into focus. Ropeworks is named after a Victorian factory on the site, the Lemonade Building is named after soft drinks manufacturer R Whites, while Piano Works, the new hotel, reflects its Ripple Road manufacturing heritage. As part of both phases, the area has been knitted together with an award-winning public realm. With unity and character now taking pride of place, the space between the civic square and the new buildings is a world away from the rundown and rather threatening former town centre. As well as an arboretum illuminated by 13 golden chandeliers, a folly wall of reclaimed local bricks, and an arcade wall of black and white terrazzo tiles, there is also an impressive display of artwork. Making the new town centre a reality has required close working between the public and private sectors.

LEFT: A striking aboretum, sleek yet playful, is a focal point of Barking’s now revitalised and buzzing centre.

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TOP: New flats above the revitalised library. ABOVE: Housing in Axe Street, designed by Jestico Whiles. OPPOSITE: Old meets new at The Granary.

Landowner Barking and Dagenham Council agreed with Redrow Regeneration the development of 500 marketsale homes in return for the new learning centre, affordable apartments and public realm improvements. Architect Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) designed and masterplanned the whole scheme. As the project developed, the public realm took on greater importance. In collaboration with Muf Architecture, the new civic square and arboretum were created. The scheme’s success is reflected in at least a dozen prestigious awards, including the RIBA Award for Architecture (2011), New London Joint Overall Winner (2011), Housing Design Awards (2006 and 2010), European Prize for Public Urban Space (2008) and a World Architectural Festival commendation (2010). Alongside the main town centre project is Barking’s new Creative Industries Quarter (CIQ), a riverside site centred on two of Barking’s oldest buildings – the Granary, a former Victorian warehouse, and the Malthouse. The Granary has been transformed by construction and development firm Rooff into its own headquarters as well as space for creative businesses and a new cafe. Steve Drury, development director at Rooff, said the project had boosted the area as a commercial, cultural and creative hub: “This will focus attention back to the river, which historically has been a valuable resource for Barking.” Drury is also a patron of the Broadway Theatre, a performing arts centre converted by Rooff

from the former Assembly Hall. The CIQ is already home to the Arc Theatre group, Studio 3 Arts and SPACE, and attracting attention from designers, photographers and new media companies. With 6,300 businesses, Barking now has one of the UK’s highest start-up rates. Completion of the town centre does not signify the end of renewal, with the next steps being the Technical Skills Academy and the leisure centre. The £14 million Skills Academy, opening in September as part of the regeneration of the North Street/London Road area, will provide industry-focused courses aimed at 14 to 19-year-olds. The leisure centre was approved in 2011 and is planned to open in a new £12 million building on Axe Street by the end of 2014. Bringing it all together The transformation process had to weather many changes, not least financial and economic, and its completion is testament to the ‘can do’ attitude of Barking and Dagenham Council, and the co-operation, flexibility and professionalism of all the private partners involved. Below, four key participants give their views on the project and its success. AHMM AHMM was architect of the scheme from 2002 to 2011, and designed six buildings including the library. Paul Monaghan took the lead on masterplanning and believes that Barking Central sets a new UK standard in urban regeneration. “The key to successful city centre regeneration is not in throwing away old buildings but knitting old

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external funding and supported the land acquisition for phase two. After a hiatus, the council’s role was to arbitrate between the designers and the developers and keep the project moving, most crucially, ensuring it could be finished after the recession hit halfway through phase two. Muf Architecture Muf is a prize-winning designer of urban public spaces and founding partner Liza Fior was instrumental in the development of Barking’s new town square and public realm. She recalls: “Barking was in need of civic space, it felt as if half was under construction which had led to tensions between new and existing communities.” Discovering what these communities wanted and how they felt about the new spaces and new together to breathe fresh Barking and Dagenham Council became her priority. Muf ran Jeremy Grint, divisional director life into a city.” workshops with residents and of regeneration for Barking and The library scheme surpassed researched local attitudes to expectations, happily welcoming a Dagenham Council, was key in regeneration in terms of place million visitors each year, despite developing the project. “Originally, the council had been and identity. As a result, the being designed for only 250,000. hoping to do phase two of a retail civic square was conceived as The improvements have also an “extra-large outdoor room scheme as well as a public arts transformed the town centre’s and flexible space for activities lottery project. The first brief in atmosphere. Monaghan says: “Barking used to rely on the docks 1999 was for a mixed-use scheme by the institutions that flank it for a new library and public space, and also for one-off events”. but was slipping away after a The arboretum was designed to but the council wasn’t keen on long decline.” the first architect and AHMM was be “a place to play, but yet not The town centre with its new a playground”. As for the folly appointed in 2002.” buildings, spaces and residents, wall, made of salvaged 19th By this time, the financial has reversed this entirely. century materials, Fior says local circumstances forced Success did not come without amendments to the scheme and, people now often believe that it problems however, including the “had either always been there financial crises in 2001 and 2008. not long into phase one, Redrow or had been reconstructed from took over as builders. As Grint Monaghan says: “Over the years elsewhere in the borough”. says: “The council championed there were tense moments, but The whole project, in Fior’s the project, co-ordinated the everyone at the end felt part of words, was designed “to mix something special. We were trying vision and to an extent, project mystery with utility” and connect managed the whole process to make things better. There was to the heritage of the town. “We through phase one and all three a good relationship between the wanted to make a relationship public realm phases.” It was council and the builders and we with the past so we used the were like the glue between them.” also the council that brought in

“The town centre transformation ... is down to both the ‘can do’ attitude of Barking Council and private parners”

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“There also has to be a senior council officer who champions the project and becomes the guardian of quality design.” Grint says another lesson is thinking about the whole, not only about uses but also types of buildings and continuity,” he says, “but Barking spaces, retaining quality design. was lucky to retain both – and the Barking is a good pointer to council was absolutely key to this how town centres elsewhere can with its positive political attitude.” adapt to changing circumstances A successful town centre, says through diversification – no longer Brearley, is “a place where what being able to rely on shopping and offices alone. we all share comes together” “Town centres need cafes, bars and changes in retailing mean and restaurants to retain people the focus now needs to be on a wider range of uses. Barking has during the day and evening,” succeeded, in his view, because: says Grint. “They need leisure “There was a careful process of and entertainment places, civic buildings and libraries, a high upgrading piece by piece and quality public realm in which the new spaces are seen as a people feel comfortable and safe, continuity through the whole town.” He also praises the simple, plus good quality public transport and safe and secure car parking.” good quality materials and Public buildings and space subtlety of judgement that have are crucial, believes Monaghan: been applied to the scheme. “You must spend the right money on the public realm,” he says, Lessons learned Does the Barking experience have “And while an M&S store might be better for some, a library is lessons for other urban areas in London and the south-east? Grint for everyone.” For those who worked on certainly thinks so. Barking’s new centre, the proof “There is a need for a strong of success is not just its many vision, and for senior politicians awards, but how well it has been with a sense of more than just received by everyone in the town. a four-year timescale,” he says.

“We wanted to make a relationship with the past so we used the master bricklayers from Barking College” master bricklayers from Barking College and brought in this fragile reference to Barking’s history,” she says. Muf’s work on Barking’s “secret garden” has proved a storming success, with The Observer voting it one of Britain’s 10 best public art works. Design for London Design for London has been a partner in Barking’s regeneration since 2003, and was involved in the London Road and Riverside schemes as well as the town centre. Design for London head Mark Brearley has worked on more than 200 projects across the capital and is particularly proud of the Barking scheme. Design for London’s role, he says, is as: “A helpful friend, doing what we can to make changes happen and especially to create enthusiasm for doing it well.” The duration of the project posed a particular challenge. “There was always the potential for loss of momentum and

LEFT: State-ofthe-art facilities at the Technical Skills Academy.

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We are passionate about delivering legacy developments at William Street Quarter and Eastern End Thames View that will offer the community a sustainable, high quality and safe environment for its local residents and visitors alike. Across the UK, it is an accepted reality that insufficient new homes are being built, either for rent or for sale, and that the demand for affordable housing in particular is still growing. In response to this, Long Harbour, Explore Investments, Jerram Falkus and Laing Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Rourke worked in partnership with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to deliver a new completely self-financing solution to deliver affordable housing across two sites in the Borough. Together, these two regeneration projects are the first totally privately funded affordable social housing schemes anywhere in the UK. This exciting new deal has secured the development of 477 brand new affordable residential units in two prime locations both in urgent need of regeneration.

With an enviable track record in delivering high quality developments across a range of sectors in partnership with both public and private sector partners; Long Harbour, Explore Investments, Jerram Falkus and Laing Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Rourke are excited about the opportunity to work within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and in partnership with the Local Authority. Construction works have already commenced on both sites where at least a quarter of the workforce employed to build these properties will be local.The first dwellings will be available for occupancy in 18 months time, with the entire scheme to be completed by July 2014. All units will aim to achieve Level 4 code for sustainable homes and will meet the London Housing design guide, even though no grant funding is being provided.

For further information, please contact Rebecca Taylor: retaylor@laingorourke.com or Henry Bacon: hhb@longharbour.co.uk

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The UK’s largest dedicated clean-tech centre is based in Dagenham.

Virtuous circle London Sustainable Industries Park, home to two ground-breaking green businesses, is designed for its tenants to exist in symbiosis. Ben Willis discovers how one person’s waste is another’s vital resource

erhaps best known for its long association with car manufacturing, Dagenham is now becoming the stage for a fresh wave of industrial activity. This 36-ha brownfield site in Dagenham Dock is being transformed into the London Sustainable Industries Park (LSIP), billed as the UK’s largest dedicated centre for clean-tech and green businesses. The initiative is the brainchild of the Barking and Dagenham Council, which some time ago, identified the future economic potential of low-carbon business within the borough. In partnership with the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC – wound-up in 2012), the borough developed the concept of a ‘new generation’ business park to encourage and grow environmental technology businesses and sustainable industries. “Barking and Dagenham Council had an aspiration to develop a new industrial sector that would help to replace some of the jobs Ford used to provide in the area,” says Mark Bradbury, former deputy development director at LTGDC. “Going back about 10 years, they identified that

the sustainable sector was going to be a growth area and that they ought to provide for it.” In many ways the idea was ahead of its time, and it took nearly a decade before the market caught up with Barking and Dagenham Council’s vision. But LSIP is now a fixture, with its first occupier, the plastic recycling company Closed Loop Recycling well established and its second business, the organic waste recycling business TEG Environmental poised to open a plant on the site. According to Bradbury, the intention with LSIP from the outset was that it should be more than just a clean-tech business cluster. The concept underpinning the venture was that businesses located on the site should have the opportunity to operate on a ‘symbiotic’ basis, sharing skills and materials that to one company may be waste but to another may pose an opportunity. “We felt this shouldn’t be a place where you just have a random collection of businesses,” explains Bradbury. “What would happen if you deliberately created a cluster of slightly different but synergic businesses? What would happen if they shared resources? For example, I’ve got surplus 37

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LSIP’s infrastructure was planned to ensure that businesses could exchange resources.

heat: is there a neighbour who might need it? I have a residual element of my waste stream which I don’t process, what can I do with it?” The physical infrastructure of LSIP was devised from the outset to encourage such relationships to develop. Pipework allowing the exchange of waste heat between buildings has been laid, enabling businesses locating in the park to connect up to what Bradbury expects to be a localised heat network – with plans for this eventually to feed into wider district heating networks. “By getting that infrastructure in from day one,” Bradbury says, “it means that when new businesses come in, they can plan how to build their facility, knowing that there is an option there for them [to connect up]. It helps them plan business in a different way because we’ve already put the infrastructure in for them to do that.” As an example of this process in action, Closed Loop and TEG, which is due to open an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant on site this year, have already agreed on a waste-sharing arrangement. Chris Dow, managing director 38

of Closed Loop, explains that his company will take some of the waste heat produced from TEG’s AD plant, while TEG will make use of waste water from Closed Loop’s plastic recycling process. “We’re putting in a pipe under the road to deliver one to another,” Dow explains. “If you don’t plan that infrastructure in advance, you just have to vent off that heat and it’s lost, and our waste water goes back into the system. This is a really easy victory for the environment.” According to James Westcott, commercial manager at TEG, it was specifically this careful planning of the infrastructure, as well as its location to key markets and raw materials, that drew his company to LSIP. “The whole park is geared towards our kind of business,” says Westcott. “It’s also very well placed in terms of location for collecting waste and accessing placements for products for compost – and for businesses that would have use for some of our products – for example, heat.” Beyond TEG’s AD facility, there are plans for a gasification plant on the site, which would

also generate waste heat. Darryl Newport, director of the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of East London, who acted as a consultant to LTGDC, says that with large-scale housing development planned on LSIP’s doorstep, there is a huge opportunity for these plants to provide heating to new housing. “Next door to LSIP, you’ve got outline planning for 10,800 homes,” Newport says. “If you do put in a gasification plant, district heating networks could be an opportunity because the infrastructure is in place.” The park is well connected. Although the Dagenham Dock extension of the Docklands Light Railway is on the drawing board, LSIP is currently served every 12 minutes by a high-frequency bus service, the East London Transit. LSIP has hook-up points for electric vehicles, and there are plans for a local cycle hire scheme to allow park workers to cycle from the nearby Dagenham Dock mainline rail station. Bradbury expects LSIP to become a model to follow. “Our belief is that one day, every city in the world will have a sustainable industries park,” he says.

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Riverside living One of the UK’s largest housing developments features affordable housing set amid wildlife and green open spaces, along the last of London’s River Thames frontage. Paul Coleman reports

usty brown banded carder bees flit around in Barking Riverside’s wildlife garden. Keen birdwatchers avidly train binoculars and cameras at curved-beaked avocets visiting Barking Riverside’s meadow and River Thames foreshore. Children at playtime can be heard at the new George Carey Primary School at the Rivergate Centre on Minter Road. Lord 40

Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury (who grew up in Dagenham), performed the opening ceremony in April 2012. At the school, Carey helped place a time capsule, which will be opened in 20 years. Well before then, Barking Riverside, one of London’s largest undeveloped Thames frontages, will be a new neighbourhood set amid green open spaces. The phased £3.5 billion Barking

Riverside project – the biggest housing development area in the Thames Gateway – will deliver 10,800 new homes and community facilities, creating a neighbourhood of 26,000 people. Of homes in the IG11 postcode, 40% will be affordable, targeted at key workers. Another 30% will house families. The plan includes 24,000sq m of leisure space, 22,000sq m of retail and another 7,300sq m of commercial space.

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Barking Riverside Limited, a joint venture between the Homes and Communities Agency and Bellway Homes, works in partnership with Barking and Dagenham Council to bring about the area’s transformation. Since 2003, the project has grown despite changing economic circumstances. Outline planning permission for Barking Riverside was granted in 2007 at the end of the boom. By 2009, when detailed

planning approval was granted, the economy was in recession. This brownfield site project typifies what is needed for a broader economic recovery. The Barking Riverside neighbourhood will feature eight character areas separated by green corridors. The three-form entry primary school is already a focus for the diverse local community and their families. Headteacher Chris Harrison says: “We’ve got families

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moving in all the time. The school was completed first to be the hub of the community.” With 250 pupils already on the roll of the £11.5 million school: next year’s intake could reach 350. “We worked closely with the Church of England to establish this state-of-the-art school,” says Councillor Rocky Gill, Barking and Dagenham’s cabinet member for finance and education. “It’s exciting to see a new school opening with such excellent facilities, especially with increasing demand for school places in the borough.” About 40% of the area will be open space and people will be able to get to Barking Riverside’s two kilometres of Thames waterfront for the first time. High quality family homes are central to Barking Riverside. The council aims to attract key workers and their families to the affordable homes. This area used to sit on the cooler side of London’s patchwork of ‘hot and cold’ property market areas.

But this is changing with the opening of the new school, a community centre and the swathe of homes currently being built close to the Thames. New housing features distinctive architecture and thoughtful design, along with large tripleglazed windows, timber frames and cladding, and rooftop photovoltaic cells that could reduce electricity consumption by 20%. These homes contrast with much of Barking’s older terraced housing and late 20th century blocks and towers. Bellway Homes’ sales director Karen Coulson has been extremely pleased with the interest since 357 homes hit the market in autumn 2011. “Barking Riverside is one of very few east London schemes that delivers family housing,” says Coulson. City East, part of Barking Riverside, consists of three and four bedroom family homes and one, two and three bedroom apartments. Prices

“Barking Riverside is one of very few east London schemes that delivers family housing” are competitive for London, at £139,995 for a one bedroom apartment and a three bed, mid-terrace at £244,995. Meadowland, the first of Barking Riverside’s residential hubs, offers homes of contemporary design with roof terraces and duplex apartments around a garden square. John Saville at Spicer McColl says: “Homes at Meadowland represent a rare opportunity to invest early in one of the largest regeneration sites in London.” Residents are also moving into the first six of 167 homes being built by Southern Housing 43

Bold | New quarter

Group, who will own and manage the properties. Three of the six homes were offered for social rent and another three for intermediate rent. Of the 167 homes, 114 will be for social rent and 53 for intermediate rent. The affordable homes are a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments, as well as three and four bedroom houses. Resident Nikisha Lewis says: “I feel really excited to move into this property with my family. I grew up around this area so it’s nice to come back and settle here.” The new high quality homes are close to the Rivergate Centre and the school. Forty per cent of the site is designated as green open space and the development also includes green roofs. Southern Housing Group’s development director, Dale Meredith, says: “Barking Riverside provides a best practice model for sustainable living in

the 21st century, with all homes meeting level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.” Designed by van Heyningen and Haward architects, the Rivergate Centre also includes 90 flats, a nursery, healthcare facilities, a base for the police’s Safer Neighbourhood team, a place of worship, community development trust offices and local shops. All are focused on an attractive public square with its own clocktower, lawn, seating and cafe. Homes, community facilities, nature and wildlife so close to the Thames are attractive selling points. But Barking Riverside has had another vital impact in sustainable regeneration – new jobs. The project has already generated 1,500 jobs, of which many have been taken up by local people, helping to reinstate their sense of pride in an area which seems to have everything going for it.

IN TRANSIT Barking Riverside is perfectly situated between the River Thames and the arterial A13 road, which runs from London out along the Thames Gateway to the Essex coast. New homes will enjoy transport links such as the second phase of Transport for London’s East London Transit (ELT), a 24-hour, highfrequency service using hi-tech environmentally friendly iBuses. First phase ELT services already run from Ilford to Dagenham Dock station via Barking town centre. Second phase ELT services will convey passengers between Barking Riverside and Barking town centre and station where commuters can reach Fenchurch Street station in the City of London within 15 minutes. Improvements to River Road, Thames Road, Creek Road and Long Reach Road will improve links for bus users, cyclists, pedestrians and other road users. Barking station also connects to District line services offering direct access to Tower Gateway, Bank and Cannon Street. Barking Riverside is also only five miles from Canary Wharf and the London City Airport. Stansted Airport is only 28 miles away.

Creative Industries Quarter, 80 Abbey Road, Barking www.thegranarybarking.co.uk

The Rooff Group construction and development company moved last summer to their new headquarters at the Granary in Abbey Road, Barking, on the banks of the River Roding.

The Roding Riverside regeneration will form Barking’s Creative Industries Quarter and will bring together a vibrant community, providing opportunities for local businesses and residents.

Conversion of this local historic building and construction of the stunning new Bronze clad extension, form the first phase of longer term regeneration objectives for the Roding riverside frontage.

The Granary recently won a Civic Trust award and is now looking for like minded creative and commercial businesses to occupy the premises. The setting benefits from excellent road links with the nearby A406 and A13 accessing the M11 and M25, and is within walking distance of Barking station, which benefits from the C2C, District and Hammersmith & City lines.

The Granary building and the adjoining Malthouse are among the oldest remaining buildings within Barking and Dagenham and Rooff are proud to be associated with the restoration and “bringing back to life” of such important local features.

The riverside location boasts space for a new riverside café and terrace with views over the Roding Nature Reserve and local house boat community. The finished accommodation offers floor areas of between 2,000 – 15,000 sq ft. Local agent Glenny have been appointed to market the completed development.

The Granary building now forms a new destination point on the river, linking back to the boroughs historic fishing and malting heritage.

www.rooff.co.uk 020 8709 1777 For further property information please contact Peter Higgins from Glenny on 020 8591 6671 or email p.higgins@glenny.co.uk

Bold | Strategy

The long view Barking and Dagenham Council takes pride in its reputation as a ‘can do’ authority – which in planning terms, can mean readying complex regeneration schemes for the market within a matter of weeks. Councillor Cameron Geddes, cabinet member for regeneration, tells BOLD editor Siobhán Crozier about his council’s vision for investment in London’s newest opportunity

Bold | Strategy

Q What is Barking and Dagenham’s appeal to investors? A People from Texas came here recently and were impressed by the location, the size of sites for development and relatively cheap land. It’s one of the last areas close to London where you can do anything on a dramatic scale. Q What stands out about your borough’s development opportunities in this sub-region? A Moving from host boroughs to growth boroughs will see Barking and Dagenham’s potential, with Barking Riverside, Beam Park and Businesseast – the Sanofi site opposite Dagenham East station – all substantial expanses of land. And the borough is located on the River Thames! The potential is international, to have that amount of land in a capital city, on a river, probably puts us in a unique position internationally. Also, Fenchurch Street in the City is only 15 minutes away. Q What will be the catalyst for regeneration? A We need more aspirational housing; the borough has become so popular, with relatively cheap housing combined with very good schools. We want people to stay because there are good schools, then when the youngsters get degrees, we want aspirational housing that will persuade them to stay. That’s why we’re so keen to attract investors and why we’ve given permission for so many housing developments. Q Dagenham is known for Ford, and Sanofi was a major employer – but it leaves in 2013? A At the new Businesseast development: Sanofi’s former

laboratories would cost millions to build, so they will be marketed for scientific use. It’s a radical change to the type of employment that used to go on here and obviously, we’re still keen for the quantity of jobs, as well as quality jobs. Ford is still an important part of the community but it was stressing years ago that it would become difficult to find automotive manufacturing jobs for people without degrees.

rehearsal. The Beam Park site has been vacant for a decade since Ford left. We were convinced about the transport, that we could pass the permission in time, and all the marquees went up. We’ve got other sites through quickly – but if it’s the case that the answer is going to have to be no, we want to say no quickly. We prefer saying yes – because when people are investing millions, they really don’t want uncertainty.

Q What does it mean, in terms of delivering regeneration, to be a ‘can do’ authority? A The Olympic people came to us a few months before the Games, wanting a site to house 6,000 people for the opening ceremony

Q How does the council support economic development? A We’re focused on schools improvement and training for 16 to 19-year-olds, with the Technical Skills Academy opening in September. We’re spending a substantial capital sum on establishing an academy, yet it’s the right time to invest, we need to tackle the problems of those not in education and employment. Barking and Dagenham enterprise centres encourage business start ups. The Barking enterprise centre is now almost fully occupied and we may have to consider an extension. We’re trying to attract jobs but we’re also so close to Canary Wharf and the City of London and our job is to ensure that our youngsters are able to exploit that opportunity.

Can do development • Council used compulsory purchase (CPO) powers for the Dagenham Library mixed-use scheme • Use of council land and CPO to unlock potential and selection of development partners to deliver schemes at Barking Central and London Road/North Street • Businesseast planning application for a 44-ha mixed-use site, approved in just over 10 weeks • SportHouse, the UK’s largest sports hall, was approved in under five weeks • New approaches to financing deals include a £76 million housing scheme for 477 homes, funded by an innovative private sector partnership with the council

Q What is Barking and Dagenham’s offer to companies thinking about relocation? A The future workforce – we have excellent schools, we have the Technical Skills Academy and Barking & Dagenham College. Add into this equation, land, transport and location, and it’s hard to imagine anywhere in the world that has anything better to offer – and it’s only going to get better. 47

Find why Barking Barking and and Find out out why Dagenham is Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dagenham is Newest Opportunity at at Newest Opportunity www.lbbd.gov.uk/londonsnewestopportunity www.lbbd.gov.uk/londonsnewestopportunity Jeremy JeremyGrint Grint Divisional DivisionalDirector Directorof ofRegeneration Regeneration and Economic Development and Economic Development Jeremy.grint@lbbd.gov.uk Jeremy.grint@lbbd.gov.uk 020 0208227 82272443 2443

David Harley Harley David Group Manager Economic EconomicDevelopment Development Group Manager and Sustainable SustainableCommunities Communities and David.harley@lbbd.gov.uk David.harley@lbbd.gov.uk 020 8227 8227 5316 5316 020

Daniel DanielPope Pope Group GroupManager ManagerDevelopment Development Planning Planning Daniel.pope@lbbd.gov.uk Daniel.pope@lbbd.gov.uk 020 0208227 82273929 3929

Business Relationship RelationshipManagers Managers Business info@boldanddynamic.co.uk info@boldanddynamic.co.uk 8227 3319 3319 020 8227

www.boldanddynamic.co.uk www.boldanddynamic.co.uk

www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk

Bold | Business focus

Precious cargo Barking’s stretch of the Thames has long ceased to teem with ships and dockers – yet one of the world’s largest shipping companies has maintained its local base for the past 40 years. Lucy Purdy finds out why multinational Hapag-Lloyd thinks Barking is good for business

ith a fleet of 150 ships and 6,900 members of staff working in 114 countries, Hamburg-based global shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is the fifth largest firm of its kind in the world. The company works across all continents to transport five million containers each year and within its global operations, the UK is one of its most important markets, with services loading and discharging containers at ports in Southampton, Tilbury, Thamesport, Felixstowe and

Liverpool. The company recently celebrated its 150th anniversary in the UK and, for the last 40 years, has managed its UK operations and commercial activities from Barking, as well as having offices in Liverpool, Glasgow and Dublin. More than 90% of the goods coming into the UK reach our shores via the kind of ships found in Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet. Products we use every day, from iPods to T-shirts, are likely to have made their way here after having been packed into containers and transported over the waves.

For 165 years, Hapag-Lloyd has set industry-wide benchmarks for reliability, service, productivity and environmental protection. Managing director Cameron Bowie says: “We don’t have to be at the ports or in expensive city centre locations to run our business and so Barking has worked very well for us over the years. The transport infrastructure is fantastic. You can be in central London in 15 minutes, there are two underground lines and the M11 and the M25 motorways are within reach. London City Airport is also 22 minutes away. “Importantly, we have some exceptionally talented and hardworking people all living in and around the Barking area.”  A member of the Barking and Dagenham Chamber of Commerce and Skills, Jobs and Enterprise Board, Bowie is committed to driving business forward in the area. He is upbeat about the borough’s future, saying: “Barking and Dagenham has a lot more potential as a business centre because of its accessibility and infrastructure – certain areas in particular are absolutely ripe for regeneration and investment.” 49

Bold | Transport

Linked In Transport links are expanding alongside and – in some instances – being built in advance of the growth of Barking and Dagenham’s district centres, writes Paul Coleman

onstruction of East London Transit (ELT) phase two began in January 2012. When completed in summer 2013, ELT’s eco-efficient buses – which run on busways segregated from other road users – will serve Barking Riverside’s new households. Initially, families with children attending the new George Carey Primary School and users of the Rivergate Centre will benefit. But over the next 20 years, buses will connect an estimated 26,000 Barking Riverside residents to the rest of the borough. ELT’s first phase links residents between Ilford, Barking Town Centre, Thamesview and Dagenham Dock. In the town centre, local people report ELT

provides direct journeys with more comfort, convenience and a greater feeling of personal safety.

on its masterplan with station manager Network Rail and with the new franchise train operator.

Barking Station Local people feel similarly positive about the £1 million public realm enhancement outside Barking station, one of London’s busiest national rail and underground interchanges. New paving, lighting, street furniture and trees have made the station’s frontage function and feel better. The council has adopted a station masterplan and the next step will tackle accessibility and create more space inside. The Essex Thameside franchise that serves Barking station is due to be re-let in May 2013 for 15 years. The council will work

Crossrail Chadwell Heath station, to the north of Barking and Dagenham, is due to be an important stopping point for Crossrail services from 2018-19. The advent of a nearby Crossrail station will create demand for homes, shops and services within the station’s catchment area. Crossrail’s upgrade of the station means lengthened platforms to accommodate new 10-car trains. Access is being improved and lifts installed. Once Crossrail services start running, Liverpool Street will be only 24 minutes away, Tottenham Court Road, 30, and Heathrow, 59. DLR extension The borough’s potential to promote wider growth within east London would be further realised by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension from the Royal Docks to Dagenham Dock. Transport for London has already costed the extension. A Transport and Works Act order is in place. The council will be working with the mayor of London and with the department of Transport to see when funding for this scoped project can be delivered.

BOLD partners joining together to support Barking and Dagenham

01 Agilisys, Trevor Billington trevor.billington@agilisys.co.uk

02 Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Paul Monaghan, pmonaghan@ahmm.co.uk 03 Barking Enterprise Centre, Mark Kass mark.kass@agilisys.co.uk 04 Countryside Properties, Michael Hill michael.hill@cpplc.com 05 Elevate East London, Sue Lees sue.lees@elevateeastlondon.co.uk 06 Hapag-Lloyd, Cameron Bowie cameron.bowie@hlag.com 07 C2C, Chris Atkinson chris.atkinson@nationalexpress.com

For more information about these companies, visit boldmagazine.co.uk

Bold | Businesseast

Chemical reaction Closure of Sanofi’s pharmaceutical plant could have been a significant setback for Dagenham, but its rebirth as a science and technology park will instead bring new life and prosperity to the area, as David Blackman discovers

or Dagenham, global pharmaceutical company Sanofi’s decision to close its plant was a major blow. The east Dagenham site (left) has been a cutting edge research, development, manufacturing and distribution centre for three quarters of a century, and was a major employer in the area. Yet in 2009, the company announced it would end production on the 44-ha site in 2013, with the loss of 500 jobs. The decision did not reflect the quality of manufacture and research at the site, for which the company had received a Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Landmark Award in 2011. Rather, it reflected wider changes in the industry, which has seen a number of UK facilities close. It is not just the number of jobs that is important for Dagenham, but also the high-skilled nature of the employment offered, and the £7 million of contracts generated for local businesses. What Sanofi chose to do next was vital. The easiest option would have been to flatten the site and follow the familiar route of reusing it for housing or retail warehousing. But this would have meant the loss of the cutting edge

manufacturing facilities. So the company decided to try to preserve the best facilities. Sanofi land development and partnership leader Mark Bass says: “We could have been just another retail park, but the senior management proposed to retain the cluster of buildings and make it a science and technology park.” Bass, who has been based at the site since 1986, says: “With such a proud tradition in Dagenham, we wanted to secure a long-term future for this site. The decision to close was for economic reasons but we did not want to simply walk away. “We’ve been a focal part of this community and we intend to secure a legacy that will continue to provide valuable benefits for generations to come.” Sanofi brought in Cheshirebased regeneration specialist SOG, which had a track record in similar work having led the transformation of ICI’s former chemicals headquarters in Runcorn into a thriving business and science park. The location now hosts more than 150 businesses and provides work for 1,800 people. To try and achieve a similar outcome at the Dagenham site 53

Bold | Businesseast

individual units for pure research, or as a base for R&D-focused biotech, pharmaceutical or bioscience start-ups. Larger lab space could attract universities and more established companies. The rest of the 44-ha site will be redeveloped for a mix of uses, including a supermarket. Bass says of the retail element: “It enables us to be flexible with our plan for other parts of the site.” The scheme also includes an the plan is to create a multioccupancy science and technology 80-bedroom hotel and restaurant, warehouses and distribution park known as Businesseast. space. The Businesseast The site is opposite Dagenham promoters believe 1,300 jobs East underground station, giving could be generated, nearly three easy access to central London. times the number currently It features state-of-the-art employed by Sanofi. sterile manufacturing facilities, A large part of the site will be or clean rooms, together with allocated to community uses, dry and wet laboratory space, air handling systems and micro labs as plans reflect Sanofi’s desire to give something back to the (pictured above). SOG’s Tim Metson says: “These community with which it has such strong links. facilities would be prohibitively There are plans for a 3,500sq m expensive to build from scratch,” health centre, catering for 20,000 with Bass estimating that the patients, which will help the NHS clean room facilities would cost keep pace with the borough’s £30 million, with the rest of the expanding population. Open daily, complex another £70 million. it will offer GP, community care Under the Businesseast plan, and mental health services and drawn up with property agents a dental school. Savills, some of the existing lab Proposals incude a plan to form buildings will be redeveloped into

Plans include science, R&D, retail, health, manufacturing and a hotel and restaurant

a community trust to manage the plant’s sports and social club facilities, including a pair of synthetic turf football pitches. The facilities would remain accessible to residents. In addition, several pockets of vacant land have been earmarked to become part of a neighbouring country park. Barking and Dagenham Council approved the plans this year. Dagenham Labour MP Jon Cruddas is now feeling more positive about the future of the Sanofi site: “That’s the product of people rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on the details. We are now seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”

INDUSTRIAL LEGACY Sanofi has long links with east Dagenham. The plant opened in 1934 when it was known as May & Baker, the name by which many still know it locally. Since its foundation, it has been at the forefront of medical drugs research and manufacture – one of its compounds cured Winston Churchill of pneumonia during the Second World War. Its oncology products are distributed to more than 80 countries, helping thousands who are suffering from breast, lung and prostate cancers. During its heyday in the 80s and 90s, more than 4,500 people worked there, making it the town’s second biggest employer after Ford. In recognition of Sanofi’s technological innovation, the site has won three Queen’s Awards for Industry.