Full house at Balme Business Park  

Frank Marshall Estates is behind the £7m Wakefield project, which provides 76,000 sq ft of small business units and is fully let on completion.

Dudleys Consulting Engineers has completed consultancy works on phase two of the project, working with a professional team also including architect KPP and Percy Pickard Contractors.

The project, close to Junction 40 of the M1, has transformed a four-acre site and is expected to support around 200 jobs.

Dudleys was appointed by Frank Marshall Estates to advise on the project following its acquisition of the Flanshaw Way site in 2020. The firm provided advice around remediation and enabling works required for the former abattoir location.

The practice delivered full civil and structural engineering services including review and appraisal of existing site records, co-ordination and review of additional validation investigation works and subsequent presentation to local authority consultees to support the planning process.

Peter Dixon, director at Dudleys, said: “We were delighted to support Frank Marshall Estates in the delivery of both phase one and phase two of this prime employment site. Due to previous uses of the site, some remediation was needed.

“The development plateaus were also heavily constrained by the steep surrounding embankments and close proximity to an existing substation. We worked closely with the construction team to manage arisings from the foundations and drainage excavations to carefully co-ordinate levels of construction.”

FME is a long established, family-owned commercial development and investment company based in Bradford. Alongside its portfolio of industrial and office developments, FME has put together its ‘Nano Park’ concept which provides smaller and more refined employment spaces for startups and satellite operations.

Edward Marshall of FME said: “We are pleased to deliver Balme Business Park, a prime site in Wakefield where there is considerable demand for smaller units. With the support of Dudleys we were able to deliver phase one during the pandemic and due to occupier demand we proceeded with phase two immediately after.

“The scheme has proved hugely successful, due to its location and quality of accommodation, and is now fully let.”