Siemens has announced plans to develop its Princess Parkway site in Didsbury, South Manchester, creating a sustainable technology and healthcare-focused business park.
Siemens has put forward plans to Manchester City Council to create a major new mixed-use scheme delivering a market-leading private hospital with Spire Healthcare, coupled with training and conferencing facilities.
Over the summer Siemens will seek the views of the local community and other stakeholders before finalising the development framework for the application. The objective is to deliver the plan in phases and to commence construction in summer 2015, subject to the approval of planning permission.
The scheme will also include a high-quality office park, anchored by Siemens, targeting businesses in complementary sectors including hig- tech and healthcare. The site also plans to host quality family and executive housing.
Other ancillary uses, including crèches, gyms and possibly amenity-scale leisure and retail, may be incorporated to support the scheme’s primary function as an employment-led development targeting ‘blue chip’ occupiers and inward investment.
Over time, the proposals have the potential to directly deliver up to 2,750 jobs on the site through the retention and potential expansion of Siemens, employment opportunities within the hospital, and some 1,400 jobs generated by the new offices and complementary uses. The development of the site will also allow for significant upgrades into the existing Siemens buildings, which includes the iconic Sir William Siemens House.
The investment is expected to attract suppliers of Siemens who wish to colocate and collaborate more closely with the company; and will offer strengthened opportunities and incentives for collaborative research and development with the city’s universities. Siemens is already a close partner of the University of Manchester.
The co-location of a Spire private hospital on the site will also stimulate a clustering effect. In the UK and internationally, Siemens is a major supplier of medical equipment, including diagnostic equipment, medical imagery and therapeutic systems and there is potential to establish a joint national training and marketing initiative based at the Princess Parkway campus.
The new Spire hospital will be equipped to undertake a significantly-enhanced range of activities, including highly-complex surgery and medicine through a large and fully-functioning intensive therapy unit (ITU) together with state-of-the-art diagnostic and imagery equipment from Siemens.
Juergen Maier, managing director of Siemens Industry and site director, said “For over 25 years, Siemens has been a major contributor to Greater Manchester’s economy and a committed partner in seeking to make a positive social impact within Didsbury.
“Sir William Siemens House, our iconic white building on Princess Parkway, is a popular landmark and our businesses based on the campus provide high value direct and indirect employment opportunities for hundreds of people from across the city region and beyond.
“We are developing our Princess Parkway campus and are able to facilitate the creation of a major mixed-use scheme including a new private hospital with one of the market leaders, Spire Healthcare, offices and family housing. Such development will enable us to make a significant investment into upgrading Sir William Siemens House, so that it continues to be fit for purpose.”
Siemens first purchased the site 26 years ago in 1988, with the Princess Parkway site housing a number of important operations for Siemens’ industrial activities in the UK and Ireland and Siemens Transmission & Distribution Limited - alongside its new £5m Renewable Energy Engineering Centre.
These businesses have a combined annual turnover of approximately £1.3billion, employ 930 people from Manchester, plus 5,500 in other locations, and constitute a major engineering and technology centre.
Neil McCullough, business development director at Spire Healthcare, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Siemens at its Princess Parkway Site. Building and opening a new hospital is an exciting challenge and fits well with our plans to bring high-quality healthcare to an increasing number of people. We’re very enthusiastic about this development in Manchester and look forward to welcoming our staff, consultants and patients to our new state of the art hospital when it opens.”