4 Sept 2024
Thames Enterprise Park is one of the UK’s largest and most significant employment-led brownfield regeneration projects with the potential to boost the national growth mission and to drive economic opportunity for the UK.
Supporting our client, developer ALMCOR, we helped inform its vision to transform the former Coryton oil refinery site in Thurrock, Essex, and create a new economic centre for sustainable industries, energy, and innovation.
Thames Enterprise Park is 412 acres of flat, previously-developed land on the banks of the River Thames. The development, as consented, will create 5,500 jobs and generate £350 million annually for the local economy. A resolution to grant planning, subject to a S106 agreement, was secured in June 2022.
Thames Enterprise Park also includes the former Thames Oilport, which has recently been decommissioned and is now being brought forward for redevelopment. It is being promoted through the emerging Local Plan with data helping to shape the vision.
This creates a total development area of approximately 700 acres and, with IDM’s support, the client team has been evolving a strategy for the full site which maximises the enlarged opportunity and will provide up to 12,000 jobs.
Using Data To Inform The Future
It’s clear that a project of this scale, ambition and undoubted potential needs to be carefully planned.
So to inform the masterplan, our team first carried out data-driven market analysis. Our proprietary AI techniques were used to gather, correct, and organise data, providing a granular understanding of the area.
Key sectors identified for development included: Logistics, Advanced Manufacturing and Green Energy.
We then undertook a separate piece of comprehensive research covering:
The economic footprint of the area, including 15 additional boroughs
Local business activities
Import-export data
Education and skills
Population demographics
Travel zones
Patent applications
Research grants
This depth of analysis provided key insights for the ALMCOR team, offering a detailed picture essential for their strategic planning and decision-making.
Beyond The Numbers
IDM actively participated in meetings and discussions, collaborating closely with stakeholders to ensure the project's success. The findings and recommendations were crucial in shaping the refined vision for TEP, enabling the project to win approval from Thurrock Council, and paving the way for development work to begin.
IDM ensured the project's strategic success, positioning this key site for a prosperous future.
Rupert Wood, Head of Strategic Land for ALMCOR says: “IDM's contribution to Thames Enterprise Park has been to inform our vision and masterplan across our overall 700 acre landholding and to influence our targeted marketing.
“Their data-driven market analysis and comprehensive research provided us with invaluable insights, identifying target opportunities in key sectors such as logistics, advanced manufacturing, and energy for the site's redevelopment. The depth of their analysis gave us a granular understanding that far surpassed typical reports.
“Their findings, interpretation and recommendations has played a significant part in shaping the evolving the masterplan as well as supporting facts and figures in making representations to support the developments participation in the local and national planning policy discussions.
“Thanks to their strategic insights, we can now look forward to an estimated £3.5 billion economic value over the next 10 years and the creation of over 12,000 high-value jobs across the total developable land. Plus an identified potential £25 million in grant funding.
“IDM has proven to be reliable, trusted, knowledgeable, and expert problem solvers working as a key strategic partner of the development team.
“I would highly recommend IDM for their exceptional data science and technology expertise to support the shaping of strategic development.
“Their work helped put the site in a local, regional, and national context - it is clear this is a site of national importance for UK plc and an opportunity that is critical to the national economic growth.”