Businesses on Brackmills Industrial Estate gathered this month to celebrate a year of investment and success.
Brackmills BID CEO Sara Homer, along with Chair Jon Morgan and Vice Chair Charlotte Patrick, invited businesses to look back at a project-packed 12 months as well as have their say about the future.
Speaking at the BID’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), Sara summarised the past year – talking about road projects, security drives, environmental initiatives and more.
Danielle Stone, the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, also attended and spoke at the event – congratulating Brackmills on all its work.
With Brackmills continuing as a Business Improvement District (BID) for the next five years – an initiative which means nearly £2.3million has been earmarked for the estate – Sara and the BID team also talked about plans and priorities for the future.
Here are extracts from Sara’s AGM presentation:
INFRASTRCUTURE:
Roadworks: Over the past year we have seen substantial roadworks completed on Liliput Road. Potholes have been a challenge, and have been intermittently dealt with by Highways.
This year will see a large schedule of road improvements, to include Salthouse Road (from Baxter Healthcare to the Asda roundabout). West Northamptonshire Council has purchased a new planing machine that will result in better, stronger and longer lasting road surfaces.
Buses : New bus shelters are on route and are due to be installed by the end of October 2024.
Voi Scooters: A further two-year contract with West Northants Council has been secured so these popular scooters will stay on our estate.
Winter Gritting: In 2023/2024 we funded 58 precautionary applications of gritting plus two adverse weather gritting actions, all designed to keep the estate moving and in business during the frosty times. In January 2024 an additional 17 precautionary applications of gritting plus two adverse weather gritting actions were undertaken.
New Developments: The old Howdens site on Liliput Road was cleared to make way for three new developments, known as the Brackmills Gateway. The largest of the three is DSV Logistics - now one of the biggest logistics sites on the estate. Active Ants, a Dutch company, occupy the second site and a third slightly smaller unit has been opened as ILG Logistics - their second working unit on the estate.
Property investment: The BID continues to work closely with property developers and landlords. We will be seeing some changes this year with older sites being redeveloped and new bigger businesses moving in to take their place.
CRIME PREVENTION AND SAFETY
Partnership working: Brackmills BID continues to work closely with Northamptonshire Police to maintain a safe and secure working environment. A portable camera is about to purchased and we now have an antenna on top of an estate building which gives us extra eyes on the estate.
Crime has remained low, with just 46 incidents in 2023-2024. This compares to 135 in 2008, which is the year prior to the BID commencing on Brackmills.
Cameras: We have installed a new Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera on Buryport Road and our next priority is to replace and update other cameras around the estate, to ensure they are all upgraded to a higher spec.
PCSO: Our full-time Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Paul Hurst – an award winner last year - continues to patrol the estate and provides advice and crime updates for our resident businesses.
Bank holiday security: The BID funds extra patrols, provided by private security company Etiquette Security, on bank holidays during the year, dovetailing with the shifts of our estate PCSO.
Business Watch alerts: We alert businesses about real-time issues on the estate – everything from break-ins and accidents to fires, floods, bad weather and general emergencies.
ENVIRONMENT
Landscaping: We continue to fund additional landscaping which includes maintenance and litter picking. We also fund the popular festive lights over the Christmas period.
Rubbish: The BID has funded 50 litter bins across Brackmills and we lead on the rubbish collections.
Community events: We support a host of environmental events. Most recently we held a World Clean Up Day on Brackmills, which saw more than 100 staff from a number of businesses join forces.
PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES
Website: Our BID website is packed with news, events, a popular jobs section and a detailed business directory. This coming year we are investing in a new site which will include an interactive map and host of other new features. Watch this space.
Events: We hold monthly drop-in surgeries for all Brackmills businesses. Pop along to discuss any issues you may require help with. We also have a host of networking, security, wellbeing and other events throughout the year so keep an eye on our website.
Jobs Fair: Our 2023 Jobs Fair was held at Delapré Abbey, ideal for estate businesses promote their vacancies and grow their teams. We are now investing in a jobs portal which will form a key part of the new BID website, currently in design.
Northamptonshire Logistics Awards: The BID continues to sponsor these annual awards and this year a number of Brackmills businesses have been shortlisted: Festo, ILG, Wickes, Harting, DSV, ACS, Dachser and Stanley Black and Decker. Good luck everyone.
- Find out more about the Brackmills BID plans for the next five years and view the BID’s Business Plan: