The North of England’s ‘most sustainable’ business park, East Yorkshire-based development Bridgehead, was officially opened by the Right Honourable Alan Johnson MP today.

The 50 acre business park, which sits in the shadow of the Humber Bridge in Hessle, is being developed by Hull based property company the Wykeland Group and when completed will include 612,000sqft of office, research and development and high tech space. The first phase of the scheme consists of a speculative Grade A office building with a gross internal area of more than 15,700sqft.

To maximise the building’s green credentials, it incorporates a biomass boiler, solar pv (photovoltaic) panels, a natural ventilation and free night air cooling system running through the concrete slab of the building, PIR (passive infrared sensor) and daylight dimming lights, an electric car charging point and a flexible column free internal area on both floors. It is located between the northern approach roads to the Humber Bridge and has been designed with input from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to enhance and protect local wildlife through a combined biodiversity, landscape and drainage strategy.

The development’s official opening ceremony took place in front of a crowd of around 120 business people, council members and local dignitaries. Wykeland Group managing director, Dominic Gibbons, told the crowd that Bridgehead represents the ‘next generation’ of green business parks. He said: “We’ve taken great care to design a scheme that sits hand-in-hand with the local environment and our neighbours.

“We are going to great lengths to protect the existing wildlife and to enhance its future. Nearly 8,000 new shrubs and hedgerows, 4,500 herbs and bulbs and over 200 new trees have been planted in the last 12 months to enhance and supplement the existing natural landscape.

“1.2 km of pathways have also been created which will not only be for employees based on Bridgehead but local residents as well, so it will be a great local amenity.”

Mr Gibbons added Bridgehead was more than just ‘the green future’. He said: “It is about bringing more work, more business and more jobs to the local and regional economy. “As well as providing space for inward investing organisations, it will provide opportunities for indigenous growing business and have a knock on effect to the retail, food and service suppliers in the immediate local area, therefore creating its own micro economy.”

Unveiling a plaque to mark the occasion, Alan Johnson said Bridgehead has had a ‘long gestation period’ but he was pleased to be able to finally declare the development open.

He said: “I have been an MP for 16 years and Bridgehead has taken 15 of those years to come to fruition. “The prospect of 3,000 jobs and an environmentally sustainable green project all add up to a terrific development and something to be very proud of.”

Shown above is Dominic Gibbons, Managing Director of Wykeland, Terry Smithson of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Right Honourable Alan Johnson MP, and Lord Haskins Chair of the Humber LEP joins the group for a walk around the site.