Smartparc

SMARTPARC

GAME CHANGER FOR FOOD INDUSTRY, AS UK’S FIRST SMARTPARC BECOMES REALITY powered by Inside Sustainability

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PROFILE

GAME CHANGER for food industry as UK’s first SmartParc becomes reality

SmartParc is a revolutionary high-tech food manufacturing and distribution Park that seeks to redefine the future of the UK food industry. Headed by CEO and TSL Ltd’s co-founder, Jackie Wild, SmartParc is the realisation of a long-held dream. It paves the way for the sector to ‘cluster and collaborate’ on sustainable production, to drive down operating costs, and to deliver an exciting range of benefits to tenants, employees, the local community and the environment. Profile by Andy Probert.

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nfectious and passionate, Jackie Wild is the living, breathing embodiment of SmartParc. She is a staunch advocate

of the need for innovation and change in the UK’s food systems and supply chains.

She is also determined to do something about these challenges, by creating an exciting new future for food businesses, which is more efficient, sustainable and successful.

For her, SmartParc is the fulfilment of a long-held vision, based on many years of studying these problems, and brainstorming solutions. She and her team have drawn together the best elements of the industry’s supply chain, and fused them all together on one site.

The concept of a centralised, high-tech food manufacturing and distribution hub emerged through Ms Wild’s more than 20 years’ experience of leading her global construction company, TSL Ltd. TSL is an international business that delivers turnkey capital projects for clients in food, pharmaceuticals, logistics, data centres, and high-tech manufacturing.

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Ian McIntyre

Matt O'Malley

Nigel Stevens

The TSL team has successfully worked

Addressing food industry pressures

with many industry-leading names over

SmartParc is now fast coming into view –

the years – including Tesco, GSK, HelloFresh,

moving from blue-sky thinking to clear

and Greencore. Projects have ranged from

2022 reality. Major food companies are

feasibility studies, to design, and construc-

beginning to queue up to lease units on

tion, to delivering process efficiencies

the 155-acre site in Spondon, just outside

(including AI, automation, and robotics).

Derby city centre.

The business also has a strong track record

“The SmartParc team is passionate about

in facilities maintenance and management

bringing all the skills we have learned, to

as well as complete property development.

help the food industry transition from where

The skills and experience acquired from

it is now, to a more sustainable future,” said

these projects are now vividly being brought

Ms Wild. “The SmartParc formula will help to

to life in the SmartParc project.

solve many of the industry’s key challenges,

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Jackie Wild

Michael Roberts

Kate Hancock

Paul Old

including climate change, labour shortages and supply chain pressures.

“SmartParc is the culmination of all our teams’ knowledge and experience. It’s a cluster site geared specifically towards the needs of food businesses. Buildings will be specifically designed for companies involved in food production. Occupiers will benefit from significant cost savings from shared energy, utilities, logistics and security services.”

The former Celanese site, to the east of Derby city centre, was first identified as

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an ideal location for SmartParc in 2020.

Outline planning permission was approved in June 2021. The first building is due to be handed over in April 2022.

The 2.3 million sqft park will provide food manufacturing facilities ranging from startup incubation units to large-scale manufacturing facilities. Buildings vary in size from 5,000 sqft, right up to 400,000 sqft.

SmartParc will also be home to an exciting new Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence, supported by a £6.85 million grant from central government. The aim of this facility will be to encourage innovation and new ways of thinking in food production.

The centre will act as a catalyst for growth for local food businesses. It will also offer education opportunities to encourage local people to pursue careers in food systems and supply chains.

SEGRO plc, a major British property investment and development company, will become the landlord for SmartParc tenants. They will provide a multi-millionpound investment to regenerate the brownfield site.

With additional grant funding totalling £12 million from the UK Government’s Getting Building Fund, the total investment on the SmartParc site is predicted to top £300 million.

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Energy sharing, low-carbon Parc

“SmartParc will be home to the first low-

While SEGRO will effectively act as land-

carbon food manufacturing community in

lord and investment partner, SmartParc

the UK. It offers a way for food businesses

will provide a full range of onsite managed

to collaborate to meet the challenges of

services. These are designed to support the

sustainable production, reduce costs and

food community to increase production

address the need for efficient, direct

efficiency and drive down costs through

routes to consumers.”

collaborative working.

Ms Wild is keen to draw attention to SmartParc’s revolutionary energy-sharing

With part of the CapEx already done, potential tenants will also benefit from the shared services model.

infrastructure. This will utilise wind and solar

“There will be solar panels on buildings, so

power, combined with central services, to

we will be creating a smart energy sharing

deliver the country’s most sustainable food

platform, that allows businesses to benefit

production community. It will enable man-

from variations in supply and demand of

ufacturers to reduce the carbon impact

power across SmartParc,” Ms Wild added.

of food production, at the same time as saving money.

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As part of a new forward-thinking blueprint for the food industry, the

SmartParc ecosystem will look to har-

A centralised distribution hub will allow

ness new technologies, such as vertical

tenants to consolidate the delivery of goods

farming and cellular agriculture. These

in and out of the park. This will streamline

innovations will minimise the impact of

the supply chain, further reducing costs for

weather and other variables on pro-

occupiers, and improving sustainability by

ducing sustainable food.

eliminating food miles.

Ms Wild said: “It is our goal to build the

Boost to local economy

world’s first true cluster site for food man-

SmartParc will create 5,000 direct jobs,

ufacturing and distribution. The creation

and enable a new collaborative, flexible

of this dedicated asset class is pivotal in

work model to fit in with people’s evolving

achieving a more sustainable future for

lifestyles. The ambition is to make food

food production, and giving a framework

production an attractive employment

for the food industry to build upon.

option for the local community in Derby.

“We looked at all the issues a food

“It’s a real step-change for the food industry, setting up this new asset class.

company faces today, when thinking of

We are creating a business model where

moving into a new building. We think the

food companies can plug in to shared

SmartParc formula offers potential tenants

services, whilst also obtaining additional

everything they need to make their busi-

funding, that allows them to transition into

ness a success,” Ms Wild detailed.

these new spaces.”

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“

SmartParc creates a scalable blueprint for food production.

We can export our skills and know-how in creating food

“

production communities to other markets

A ring of steel will be set up around SmartParc to ensure security, and there will also be shared maintenance, engineering, and hygiene services.

“We are trying to address the challenges faced by the food industry collectively, by fostering a culture of collaboration. Another important element will be bringing in raw materials together, so we will create a centralised warehouse hub.”

She added: “SmartParc is the starting point for change through collaboration.

That opportunity has never existed before.

It’s what the industry needs and it sets an example, which we believe will encourage the government to invest further.”

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Exporting SmartParc model abroad

skills and know-how in creating food

According to Ms Wild, there is already sig-

production communities to other mar-

nificant interest in the SmartParc concept.

kets. It is an exciting proposition.”

UK manufacturers, retailers, vertical farming

She added: “SEGRO has been an

ventures, alternative protein companies

amazing partner and is hugely committed

and secondary producers are all in talks

to SmartParc’s future success and to the

to locate at the new site.

food companies that will flourish here.

Ms Wild wants to replicate the SmartParc

Together we want to be a part of the step-

model at seven locations around the UK,

change the industry needs. SmartParc is

clustering complementary food and drinks

a key part of that transformation.

providers in each one.

“We also have the ambition to scale

“It’s taken a lot to get here, and it has been hard, as it requires a new way of

around the world. There has been a lot of

working. To me, we’re only at base camp,

interest from abroad in delivering similar

but all the stars are aligning. We can now

SmartParcs in other countries.

move forward with confidence and at

“SmartParc creates a scalable blueprint for food production. We can export our

pace, as SmartParc becomes home to the next food revolution.”

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