Ramsden Business Park, Barrow : Cumbria County Council

The Waterfront Business Park is the central project in the Barrow area within the West Lakes Renaissance investment plan. It will eventually provide over 1,500 new jobs and lead directly to private sector investment opportunities in the creation of this major employment park. Sufficient land will be provided to enable a range of industries to be accommodated, but the new technology and knowledge based business sector will be the target of marketing for the site. The application for Ramsden Business Park is for the first of three business parks planned for the area, which will complete the overall Waterfront Business Park.

The development of the Marina Village, a £100 million + private sector led investment, will provide the central driver for engaging private sector interest in the masterplan area as a whole, and in particular the business park, for the future.

This construction project will reclaim former port land to provide fully serviced employment opportunity land. The provision of business park infrastructure for provisional and planned development is the major employment generating commercial investment opportunity at the centre of “The Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness” master plan. The eventual construction project, to be undertaken by the preferred main contractor Alfred McAlpine, and managed by Capita Symonds, will reclaim current port land to provide fully serviced employment opportunity land.

The development of business park facilities is the central focus of all West Lakes Renaissance activity in the area. The project will directly benefit the working age population of Barrow in Furness and its travel to work hinterland. It is intended to further reinforce the diversification of the town’s economic base away from reliance on its single largest employer.