Hethel Technology Park

Overview

Hethel is the headquarters of the iconic Lotus luxury cars, meaning the area already enjoys a high profile in the automotive and advanced engineering sectors. The new Technology Park will build on the area’s existing expertise in advanced engineering and technology, with Lotus and adjacent Hethel Engineering Centre providing potential opportunities for support and collaboration with tenants.

The Engineering Centre an award-winning innovation hub serving the high-performance engineering and manufacturing sector in the East. As well as providing first-class business accommodation and conferencing capabilities, it offers tailored solutions for start-ups and scale-up companies.

Businesses located at the Engineering Centre include:

• Connected Energy, developers of novel battery storage solutions and energy optimisation.
• Haas Automation, one of the world’s largest machine tool manufacturers.
• Ansible Motion, designs and manufactures motion platforms for high end motorsport and road car driving simulators and complete driving simulator installations.
• AC Cars. iconic sports car which has been in continuous production since 1901
• Factor Bikes, custom made, high-performance road bikes
• Pangean Engineering, Engineering Consultancy specialising in the automotive sector

Opportunity

The new park will create a strategic employment site within Norfolk, specialising in advanced engineering and technology, providing a centre of excellence for areas such as composites and advanced manufacturing, as well as the opportunity to establish a cluster of partners and suppliers to the Lotus manufacturing and engineering facility.

Design and build a high-profile technology park, with opportunities for B1 use associated with or supporting advance engineering/manufacturing sectors on this 20-hectare site. The initial development phase will deliver an estimated 50,000 sq m (538,000 sq ft) of workshop (80 per cent), and office (20 per cent).

Workshops will range in size from 500 to 5,000 sq m (5,138-51,380 sq ft) and the office accommodation will range in size from 40 to 100 sq m (430-1076 sq ft). Subsequent phases should come on-stream as and when initial phase becomes occupied.