Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Appendix 2
Whitehill & Bordon Ecotown
Inward Investment
Strategy 2013
& Action Plan
March 2013
V2
Revised following consultation
Text in italic shows changes made as a result of the
consultation feedback.
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Introduction
This inward investment strategy relates to attracting businesses
from overseas and from the UK to set up operations in Whitehill
& Bordon, either by taking space in existing property or through
development of land to build their own new premises. It does
not include investment through acquisitions and mergers as this
may not lead to job generation which is a key objective of the
inward investment. Its focus is to attract major companies that
have the recognition and status - ideally in an activity that
complements the town’s environmental objectives and
principles - to act as confidence builders and attract others to
invest here, and although these may start with a small
investment they have significant potential to grow.
The strategy uses the sector research completed in September
2012 as the basis for its adopted approach and covers the
areas of work needed to attract investment including investment
promotion, enquiry handling, project handling and monitoring
and evaluation. The resources that will be required to carry out
the work are identified in the action plan. Further resources
may also be available from implementing complementary areas
of work including:
 Eco-town vision and branding guidelines,
 Marketing strategy,
 Lobbying strategy,
 Tourism and visitor promotions,
 Strategic business engagement,
 Sponsorship policy,
 Securing an investment partner.
The document is to be used by the project team and its delivery
partners as a tool to direct and monitor the activities to attract
businesses to Whitehill & Bordon. It is a working document that
will be reviewed and up-dated as development takes place and
actions are achieved.
Why undertake investment promotion
The town’s masterplan vision and supporting targets commit to
providing 5,500 local jobs through the town’s regeneration.
Whilst these jobs will come from a range of activities including
start-ups and entrepreneurs, public services and expansion of
existing local companies, the development of the Eco-town will
need to attract a significant number of new businesses if it is
meet this target.
Its purpose is to set out the objectives, targets, processes and
actions needed to attract relevant business investment into
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town. The work should commence now
and start to build the town brand, raise awareness of the
development opportunities and build contacts and relationships
with target businesses. Sustained investment promotion and
services will be required throughout the life of the regeneration
project however its focus and emphasis will change as the
development phases are completed.
In the past, the town has not seen high levels of inward
business investment and may not been seen as a strong
business location, therefore promotion is needed to counter
negative perceptions and to present the opportunities available
as a result of the Eco-town development. The town currently
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
has vacant industrial units and a limited range and mix of
commercial premises. There is also an employment and
commercial leisure site at Viking Park (yet to be developed).
Marketing and promotion will need to assist in securing
investment in these premises as well as any new development
to ensure that displacement is avoided, genuine new jobs are
generated and the existing industrial centres are successful and
viable in the future.
The strategy sets outs out how these objectives will be
achieved and is divided into the following sections.
Objectives
The targeted investment promotion needs to have focus,
therefore the objectives for the work are:
 Job generation,
 Occupation and development of commercial space,
 Diversifying the local economic base,
 Developing an environmental technology, goods and
services cluster,
 Strengthening local supply chains and developing markets
and links with neighbouring centres,
 Providing growth opportunities for local firms.
3
Section
Aim
Strategic context
Increase promotion and raise
awareness of the investment and
business opportunity at sub regional
and national levels.
Investment approach
Deliver focused and targeted
investment promotion supported by
market intelligence and asset
development, working in collaboration
with key partners and stakeholders.
Lead generation
Develop materials and activities that will
raise awareness of the investment and
business opportunity to target
businesses in the identified growth
sectors.
Investment services
Establish professional, effective and
efficient enquiry handling, project
management and after-care
arrangements.
Monitoring &
evaluation
Monitor and evaluate the investment
promotion and services against the
objectives and targets.
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
Vision
Encourage investment by
businesses and industries,
particularly those that share
our vision of a sustainable
and environmentally-friendly
community
Local Context
East Hampshire
The Council plays a significant role in promoting the
development of major sites and attracting investment to the
district. It has a property team and economic development
team which both work to bring sites forward and enable
development. To support this it is also currently developing an
A3 corridor proposition to set a number of major sites in context
along this strategic road network. This market positioning and
brand development will be an excellent opportunity to promote
the Eco-town within a wider functioning economic area.
Employment and jobs target
Create at least one job per new
home and provide an additional
1,500 jobs to replace those lost
by the withdrawal of the Army
from Whitehill & Bordon.
Provide training opportunities
for residents to maximise their
employment prospects with the
new businesses
Eco-town Economic Development and Employment Strategy
The economic development and employment strategy (July
2011) recognises that inward investment is an important source
of job creation, underpinned by the assets and location
advantages that will make the town attractive to businesses.
The strategy sets out a series of actions under the theme of
marketing and investment and identifies partners that would
need to be party to their delivery; these actions are given in
Appendix 1. The actions include; promotion, securing funding
to deliver investment, working with the other eco-towns to build
the brand and developing an information resource on economic
performance. These are valid actions which are incorporated
into this strategy.
The economic development team has a number of resources to
help potential investors such as a property register, socioeconomic information on the district and work with strategic
businesses through Business East Hants. Business East Hants
could play a role in providing commercial, private sector input
into promotion development to help understand business issues
and opportunities, especially around supply chains and
markets.
Eco-town vision and masterplan
The Eco-town vision and Masterplan Revised 2012 set the
framework for how Whitehill & Bordon will be developed after
the MoD withdraws in 2015. It is an ambitious plan which aims
to create a sustainable community with a low-carbon economy
as the focus for business investment, enterprise and job
growth.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Regional / Sub regional investment activities
The masterplan recognises “the town does not operate in
isolation of its neighbouring business centres such as Alton,
Petersfield and Farnham and larger economic centres such as
Portsmouth, Farnborough, Basingstoke and Guildford. Links to
these locations presents opportunities to capture investment
from important business sectors such as defence, aerospace
and communications, and higher education and research &
development from the universities of Surrey, Portsmouth and
Creative Arts at Farnham.”
study of demand and take up for commercial premises in its
area. This group and its work will be a key resource and
source of information to help develop and deliver the Ecotown’s investment promotion and services.
Hampshire
The county council has set its economic development
objectives as “working with partners to attract inward
investment and support the local business community, including
apprenticeship schemes, support to market towns and villages,
and promoting the county through Visit Hampshire”.
Enterprise M3 local enterprise partnership (LEP)
The Enterprise M3 LEP covers a number of local authority
areas from Andover to Guildford and uses the M3 corridor as is
economic and business focus. Its vision is that Enterprise M3
will be:
“One of the premier locations in the country for enterprise and
economic growth, with an excellent environment and quality of
life”.
Its economic development and rural affairs committee recently
agreed to support a series of activities to further develop its
investment promotion and services. This includes creating
sector specific propositions and a hotels’ futures study; lead
generating intelligence and contact management system;
demographic analysis, and enhancement of its Invest in
Hampshire website. The county council is also a signatory to
the Memorandum of Understanding between Enterprise M3 and
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). Therefore they are a lead
contact for UKTI to provide both information on local
opportunities and to respond to investment enquiries.
It has sub groups to lead its work on business and economic
development issues and the land and property group is the
forum through which the LEP takes forward its investment
objectives. The group is made up of property professionals,
commercial agents and developers, planning consultants and
local authority economic development and estates officers. It
meets as a forum to discuss property issues in order to advise
the LEP and has taken responsibility for the Large Sites
Assessment Study that gives a perspective on the development
suitability and readiness of major sites. To give a picture of the
commercial property market the LEP has also commissioned a
It will be vital to work with the county council and for the Ecotown investment promotion and services to fit within their
activities, taking advantage of their strategic links, campaigns
and intelligence.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Neighbouring economic growth centres
Nearby economic and business centres also have dedicated
investment promotion and services, for example Invest in
Portsmouth, Destination Basingstoke, and the Solent LEP and
PUSH have published a low carbon economy strategy which
includes developing and supporting businesses in the
environmental technology, goods and services sector. There
are strategic development sites that will be promoted in the
area including, north of Fareham strategic development area,
Waterlooville major development area, Dunsbury Hill Farm and
the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus. The opportunity to
link to these promotions to create a strategic proposition or to
position the Whitehill & Bordon developments as
complementary will be sought.
Summary of Actions
Strategic Context - raise awareness of the investment and
business opportunity at sub-regional and national levels with key
stakeholders and partners
What
How
Local context
Input to East Hampshire District
Council’s A3 corridor proposition.
Work with Business East Hants to raise
the profile of the opportunities and to
gather a commercial perspective.
Regional / Sub
regional investment
activities
Work with key stakeholders including
Enterprise M3 and Partnership for Urban
South Hampshire Low Carbon Economy
Group to raise the profile of the Ecotown and to seek opportunities for
collaboration and shared delivery.
Liaise with Hampshire County Council to
ensure Whitehill & Bordon is promoted
through their Invest in Hampshire
initiative and to share intelligence and
co-ordinate delivery.
Link to the promotion and monitor the
developments in neighbouring economic
growth centres to ensure Whitehill &
Bordon is positioned as competitively.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
ECO-TOWN INVESTMENT APPROACH
Whitehill & Bordon Target Industry Sectors
The development target is to create one job per home and an
additional 1,500 to replace those lost by the withdrawal of the
MoD. The link between employment and jobs is important to
ensure a balanced and sustainable community, providing local
jobs as the population grows. For this reason the employment
generating developments are part of mixed use schemes which
need to provide for both jobs and housing, for example Quebec
Barracks, Louisburg Barracks and the town centre.
Sector Focus
In 2009 an economic potentials study by SQW identified four
future roles for Whitehill & Bordon each with the opportunity to
attract investment and generate jobs:
 An exemplar for sustainable development and green
industries,
 Innovation and technology cluster with links to Enterprise
M3 area,
 A tourism and leisure hub at the gateway to the South
Downs National Park,
 A hub for post-16 education and technical skills training.
Clean technologies
Energy storage
Smart grid
Solar
Bio-fuels
Recycling & Waste
Energy efficiency & green buildings
Clean transportation
Tourism & leisure
Hotels
Restaurants
Leisure parks
Tourist attractions
Theatres & cinemas
IT, software & digital
media
Security systems & software
Next generation internet technologies
Cyber security
Gaming
Digital media content
Whilst the study identified the benefit of focusing on these
sectors it does not exclude investment interest from other
sectors. Businesses from a range of sectors are needed to
create a robust, broad economic base which will be naturally
attracted to the town because of the availability of suitable
premises, cost, location and workforce. However pro-active
marketing will focus on these priority sectors in order to direct
limited resources to create a consistent investment proposition
that will attract quality investment with high growth potential.
To understand in more depth the nature of these roles, an
inward investment sector study was carried out in August 2012
by Campbell Ventures, to assess and identify the sectors which
would be most relevant and have the greatest potential to
attract businesses to the Eco-town. The work concluded that
the following growth sectors should be the focus for investment
promotion:
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
The report recognised that the Eco-town vision’s target of
generating 5,500 jobs is a major challenge. To achieve this,
the recommended approach is to:
 Target large multi-international businesses and high growth,
small & medium size enterprises (SMEs),
 Focus on attracting established foreign and UK businesses,
 Focus on a small number of industry sectors – no more than
five.
industrial estates and business centres to enable a full picture
of the local commercial market to be built up. These are the
existing commercial areas in Whitehill & Bordon:
 Woolmer Trading Estate – industrial and warehousing
 Highview Business Centre & Industrial Estate – industrial,
warehousing and office
 Bordon Trading Estate – industrial and warehousing
 Viking Park – industrial and commercial leisure
 Lindford Business Park – small industrial units
 Water meadows small industries – small industrial units
 Forest Shopping Centre – retail and office
 Chalet Hill, High Street and Petersfield Road – retail and
office
 Lindford parade of shops
 Whitehill – retail parade
To support this it will be necessary to:
 Develop industry specific propositions for the three growth
sectors,
 Take advantage of local clusters, e.g. aerospace in
Farnborough; IT and software in Basingstoke,
 Partner with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI),
 Work with the local enterprise partnerships and promotion
bodies to position the Eco-town in a strategic context and
build the brand.
The focus of the investment promotion will be to attract
business to the major employment development sites
presented by the withdrawal of the MoD and as identified in the
Eco-town Masterplan. The sites are:
 Louisburg Barracks – 12 ha – 34,600 sqm for technology
business park
 New town centre - 14 ha – 50,000 sqm for retail and office
 Edge of new town centre – 3.4 ha – 19,400 sqm for
commercial leisure and office
 Viking Park – 6 ha – 16,300 sqm for industry and
commercial leisure
These recommendations are developed in more detail in the
following sections of this strategy, and as also recommend by
the sector study, a three-year action plan has been developed
in consultation with partners and stakeholders.
Property market and sites
To support the investment promotion a database of premises
and sites will be created. This will allow for accurate
information on what is available, costs and rents etc. to be
provided to prospective investors. The database should cover
not only the new development sites but also the existing
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Market Intelligence
As well as information on the premises and sites, knowledge
and understanding of the commercial property market
conditions and trends will advise the promotion activity.
Therefore it is proposed that meetings take place with the
promoters of local sites such as Viking Park and local
commercial agents to gain an understanding of their experience
in attracting businesses to invest and what approach can, and
should be, adopted in the future.
Local assets and infrastructure
As well as ensuring the right sites are available for development
and are promoted within the context of the wider commercial
market, the town will need to develop its local infrastructure to
strengthen its assets and be competitive.
Learning Hub
The masterplan identifies the importance of having a high
quality learning hub at the heart of the town’s regeneration.
Working with the district and county council economic
development teams the nature of the hub and the business
case for investment will be developed. This is long term project
which needs to be started now to demonstrate that the issue of
skills for the current and future population is being considered
with plans developed.
National commercial agents also regularly provide market
briefings for sub-regions, for example London Clancy, 2012
Commercial Property Market in the M3/M27 Corridors or GVA,
quarterly Economic and Property Market Review. This will help
to position the Eco-town opportunities within the context of
wider competing centres and developments.
Superfast Broadband and Mobile coverage
The town currently has BT Infinity but in order to compete with
other centres and be attractive to the high-tech, knowledge
based businesses access to superfast broadband will be
essential. Hampshire County Council has an initiative to
ensure that the areas in the county not covered by commercial
broadband services will be up-graded and are in the process of
tendering for a commercial partner with delivery work likely to
start in summer 2013. Links to this work need to be established
and inclusion of the Eco-town in the programme if necessary.
The studies commissioned by Enterprise M3 into the quality of
development sites and the demand and take up of commercial
premises will be a valuable source of information to help
understand the market across the sub-region. Profiles of the
area are also being commissioned by Hampshire County
Council and the LEP has published a guide for inward
investment that compares the performance of local authorities
within its boundary. These will be used as source data for
profiles promoting Whitehill & Bordon and will assist in
competitively positioning the development opportunities.
Consideration will also have to be given to the quality of the
mobile phone network and how this can be improved as the
town’s population and business base grows.
To further guide the quantum and nature of employment
development, it is proposed that a commercial assessment and
market demand study be undertaken specifically for the town.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Retro-fit programme and Green Deal
The Eco-town is developing a programme of support to
stimulate the demand and take-up of retrofitting in Whitehill &
Bordon. This work will generate a demand for assessors,
equipment and installers that will create a local market that will
be of interest to manufacturers and suppliers etc. This local
market development will be important to demonstrate the value
of investing in the town.
Incentives
The question of incentives to encourage businesses to locate in
the Eco-town has been raised in several arenas. Government
has created initiatives and competitive funding programmes to
stimulate the economy and support job and housing growth.
These include:
 Enterprise Zones that can offer business rate relief and a
simplified planning regime through local development
orders,
 Regional Growth Fund that supports investment in
infrastructure to generate jobs,
 Growing Places Fund which is administered through the
local enterprise partnerships and is a revolving fund to
invest in infrastructure that will bring forward development
and is repaid through a charge on the development.
Multi Utility Service Companies (MUSCO) and Energy Service
Companies (ESCO)
The scale of development proposed and the need to ensure the
existing community contributes to meeting the Eco-town target
of carbon and water neutrality means there is an opportunity to
consider the way energy and water is generated, collected,
stored, transferred, used and managed. This will create a
market and investment opportunity as it will involve the delivery
of upgraded and new utility infrastructure with a new approach
to their management though local management companies.
The Eco-town will continue to submit projects for investment to
these funding programmes along with seeking other sources of
funding to stimulate and kick-start investment in sites.
Business Networks
It is known that businesses locating to an area are interested in
the local business networks which will enable them to make
links with others in the area. The town does not currently have
an active business network, so with the support of
organisations such as Business East Hants and the Hampshire
Chambers of Commerce it is the intention a develop a local
network.
Over and above these grant programmes the local authority
may choose to fund and offer incentives on specific
development sites, however the benefits and impacts of
introducing a scheme would have to be thoroughly investigated,
costed and fit with the council’s corporate objectives and overall
viability of the Eco-town regeneration. A commitment to
undertake this work is included in the action plan.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Partners’ Role
There are a number of partners and organisations involved in
either direct investment promotion, co-ordinating enquiries and
responses or working with strategic businesses and
developers. Therefore any new activity will need to be coordinated across these stakeholders. They include:
 East Hampshire District Council
 Hampshire County Council
 Whitehill Town Council
 Enterprise M3 LEP
 Landowners
 UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)
Summary of Actions
The resources these partners are able to offer through a
collaborative approach to the delivery of investment promotion
activity have been considered and included in the action plan.
As well as collaboration across the public sector, it will be
important to engage with the private sector, including
commercial agents and business location services, as they will
have marketing channels, property intelligence and links with
businesses seeking premises and may have resources that
could be deployed to the benefit of the Eco-town.
Investment Promotion Approach – Deliver focused and
targeted investment promotion supported by market intelligence
and asset development, working in collaboration with key
partners and stakeholders.
What
How
Sector focus
For each priority sector set-up a team of
people who work or have an interest in
that area and identify champions and
ambassadors to promote the town.
Property market and
sites
Create a spreadsheet of commercial
premises and sites, including details of
occupiers, vacancies and on those on
the market, rents etc.
Market intelligence
Monitor property trends and review site /
market assessments by commercial
agents and promotion organisations.
Meet with local site promoters and
agents to learn from their work and
guide future approaches
Commission a commercial assessment
and market demand study for Whitehill &
Bordon
Assets and
Infrastructure
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Develop proposals for a Learning Hub to
be at the heart of the town’s
regeneration.
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Investment Promotion Approach – Deliver focused and
targeted investment promotion supported by market intelligence
and asset development, working in collaboration with key
partners and stakeholders.
What
LEAD GENERATION
The purpose of the investment promotion is to generate leads
from businesses and convert these into investment projects.
The most effective way to do this is by long term relationship
development and focused promotion to target sectors and
identified businesses. The lead generating activities can be
summarised as:
 Sector propositions
 Target business profiles
 Brand development and marketing
How
Secure investment in the provision of
super-fast broadband – link to
Hampshire County Council work.
Support the Eco-town retrofit
programme to help develop local
markets.
Explore and support MUSCO & ESCO
development to provide for new
infrastructure, generation and
management of energy and water
utilities.
Sector Propositions
The sector research recommended that a proposition be
generated for each of the identified growth sectors: Clean
technologies; Tourism, retail & Leisure; and IT systems,
software & digital media. This would need to include
information relevant to each sector on:
 Supply chains and local markets
 Existing companies in the area
 Local networks and consortia
 Business critical infrastructure
 Business partners and opportunities
 HEI strengths, skills and research capabilities
Facilitate the creation of a local business
network
Incentives
Investigate the benefits and impacts of
any potential incentive scheme,
including costs and fit with council
objectives.
Partners’ Roles
Meet and discuss with partners their
investment promotion and services’
activities. Agree how best to share
resources, avoid duplication and
organise and collaborate on delivery.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
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Target Business Profiles
Research is needed to identify businesses which are investing,
growing and looking to move into UK or European markets, and
/ or want to be associated with the Eco-town brand and the
market generated by its development. A profile of the sort of
businesses to be targeted needs to be created to help in the
identification of actual businesses to which to send
propositions. Once identified a contact database will be
established to manage the interaction with the business and
keep track of any potential investment projects.
Brand development and marketing
Whilst the sector propositions and targeted business approach
will be the focus of the investment promotion this will need to be
supported by activities that raise the profile of the town and
increases awareness of the Eco-town investment opportunities
with businesses, partners and organisations. This work will link
very closely with the Eco-town lobbying strategy and overall
marketing strategy and activities will include:
 PR campaigns,
 Publishing and disseminating brochures and fact sheets,
 Participating in property / investment exhibitions and trade
events,
 Local investment events and seminars at the Eco-station,
 Regular consultation with the private sector – Business East
Hants, agents etc.
Foreign business should be proactively targeted and to assist in
this a memorandum of understanding should be agreed with
UKTI. Before this can happen, discussions with UKTI need to
take place to fully understand the commitment being made
under any such agreement and how this would sit with the
existing agreement with Hampshire County Council. It would
be worthwhile exploring the range of support and resources
UKTI could offer in both targeting businesses and developing
the investment promotion and services.
Website
There are already three well developed websites aimed at
promoting the sub-region by providing a range of detailed
information on property, development opportunities and support
for relocating businesses. It is not proposed that Whitehill &
Bordon should replicate these sites, but instead will up-date
and improve the content on the pages Whitehill & Bordon site
with links to the Invest-in-Hampshire site. Information on
property will also be provided to the Invest-in-Portsmouth and
the Invest-in-Southampton sites to ensure the widest possible
coverage.
An action that can be taken locally and straight away is contact
with medium to large businesses in the area to see if they have
any need to locate elements of their supply chain nearer to
them. This could lead to investment projects that result not only
in increased jobs but also in supporting and strengthening
existing businesses.
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
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Revised Draft
Summary of Actions
Lead Generation - Develop materials and activities that will
raise awareness of the investment and business opportunities
with the target businesses in the identified growth sectors.
Lead Generation - Develop materials and activities that will
raise awareness of the investment and business opportunities
with the target businesses in the identified growth sectors.
What
How
Sector propositions
Create a standard template and
research the assets and infrastructure
Whitehill & Bordon has to promote its
strengths for each of the priority
sectors:
Target large multiinternational
business and high
growth small &
medium size
enterprises (SMEs).

Clean technologies

Tourism, retail and Leisure

IT, software and digital media
What
Explore with UKTI the support and
expertise available to assist in overseas
promotion and if appropriate agree a
memorandum of understanding.
Contact local medium to large business
to identify projects through their supply
chain.
Brand development
and marketing
Produce Target Company Profiles for
each of the target growth sectors.
Research and identify companies that
match the profile and to which to send
the sector propositions.
PR campaigns – place news and
articles in property magazines and
sector specific trade magazines, e.g.

Estate Gazette

Planning & Regeneration

Property Week
Publish and disseminate marketing
materials and fact sheets, create an
investment brochure and distribute to,
for example;
Create a business contact database to
track engagement activities and
potential investment projects.
Target business
profiles
How
Generate profiles of a target company,
identify specific companies and proactively target foreign business that fit
with the target company profiles
14

local, regional and national agents

local enterprise partnership
members
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
INVESTMENT SERVICES
Lead Generation - Develop materials and activities that will
raise awareness of the investment and business opportunities
with the target businesses in the identified growth sectors.
What
The investment promotion, targeting business and working with
partners such as Enterprise M3 and Hampshire County Council
are all designed to generate leads from businesses potentially
interested in investing in the town. It will require a professional
and co-ordinated response to turn any enquiry into an actual
investment project.
How
Participate in property / investment
exhibitions and trade events, e.g.

Attend Eco-build and have a stand
to promote the Eco-town
Enquiry handling and project management
Enquiries need to come to a central point of contact. The
sector research recommended that an investment manager be
identified as a dedicated resource – this could be found from
existing staff, outsourcing to an external agency or by
appointing new staff. Whichever method is chosen it must be
capable of building working relationships with the potential
investor and have a good understanding of the issues and
processes involved in securing an investment.
Host local investment events and
seminars at the Eco-station, for
example by hosting business meetings
for;

local enterprise partnerships

Hampshire chambers of commence

Property agents and developers
Undertake regular consultation and
engagement with the private sector to
raise the profile of the town, to gather
details of perspective investment
projects and use their marketing
channels.
Website
The needs of the investor should be fully recorded together with
clarification as to what is commercially sensitive and what can
be shared with others. The information requirements need to
be clearly understood and an assessment (or due diligence)
regarding the likelihood or probability of the investment taking
place completed. Enquiries with the potential to be translated
into an investment project will usually require site visits and
meetings with decision makers; how these are organised, and
the impression the investor is left with, will play a significant role
in the decision to invest or not.
Up-date and expand the investment
content on the Whitehill & Bordon
website. Ensure it links to Invest-inHampshire site and others as
appropriate.
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Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
The enquiry handling can also facilitate contact between other
agencies or local authority services that may be required to
facilitate an investment, for example planning, highways,
business rates, utilities etc. This can help speed up the
process, reduce burdens on a new company and help secure
the investment. This is another argument for having a dedicate
resource that can act as a project manager for a potential
investment and is able to maintain an ongoing relationship with
the investor.
Summary of Actions
Investment Services Actions - Establish professional,
effective and efficient enquiry handling, project management
and after-care arrangements.
What
Enquiry handling and
project management
How
Identify and promote a single point of
contact for enquires.
Create an enquiry record template to
ensure all investment project
information requirements are captured.
After-care
The relationship with the investor can and should continue after
the investment. This can result in further investment as the
company grows, secure an increase in use of local suppliers
and link the business to the local community making it less
likely to move in the future. If a strong relationship is
maintained, the company can be asked to promote the town to
other potential investors and act as a source of information
about the benefits of investing here. The business may also
have suppliers it would wish to see relocated closer to them
and which could form additional investment projects.
Agree a process with partners and
investment promotion organisations to
share enquiries and provide a coordinated response.
After-care
16
Develop a programme of engagements
with new investors to the town. Obtain
information on investment potential
from the council’s strategic business
visits.
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
MONITORING & EVALUATION
represents a significant increase in the local business and
employment base.
As stated the objectives for the investment promotion and
services are:
 Job generation,
 Occupation and development of commercial space,
 Diversifying the local economic base,
 Developing an environmental technology, goods and
services cluster,
 Strengthening local supply chains and developing markets
and links with neighbouring centres,
 Providing growth opportunities for local firms.
Development Floorspace
The table below gives a summary of the development sites
allocated for employment use in the Eco-town Masterplan.
Appendix 2 gives an extract from the Masterplan showing the
location of the sites.
Site
Louisburg Barracks
Viking Park
There will need to be a reporting process for the evaluation of
investment promotion and services’ activities in meeting these
objectives. Targets for job generation are given below along
with the development of commercial space and mix of
employment. Measures will have to be established for
capturing details of where the sectors’ investment comes from
and whether projects have links with businesses in
neighbouring centres or are an expansion of local businesses.
Quebec Barracks
Edge of new town
centre
New town centre
Other
Uses
Employment
employment /
commercial leisure
employment
employment /
commercial leisure
retail /
mixed
Public sector / home
working / hotel
Total
Targets
The Eco-town Masterplan identifies the quantum of commercial
development and consequent job creation as a result of
regenerating the sites vacated by the Bordon Garrison and
Defence School of Electronic & Mechanical Engineering.
The proposed increase in the number of businesses and jobs
over the 20-year development period of the Eco-town
17
Area
(Ha)
11.70
4.55
1.62
0.25
1.38
2.06
13.70
35.26
Floorspace
(sqm)
34,692
10,263
6,090
1,880
11,692
7,744
30,000
20,000
122,361
Jobs
1,084
250
154
822
2,498
550
400
40
5,798
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Jobs generated
The target number of jobs to be generated over the lifetime of
the development is 5,500, although the Masterplan allocates
enough commercial development land to accommodate
approximately 5,800 jobs. The following shows the spread of
the jobs across the proposed employment uses.
Uses
Floorspace (sqm)
Job Generating Source
Public sector growth
Home working
Local business growth
New inward investment
Target total
Number of jobs
550
400
1,400
3,150
5,500
Jobs
Industrial
37,549
655
Office
28,576
2,080
Commercial Leisure
13,835
162
Retail
30,119
1,300
Mixed town centre
12,481
611
Public sector / home
working / hotel
-
990
Total
122,560
5,798
Investment Projects
In order to attract the number of businesses needed to
generate the 3,150 jobs it is estimated there needs to be the
following investment projects:
Projects
Large inward
investment
Medium investment
It is estimated that in a local economy existing businesses can
generate 150 jobs per 1,000 head of population growth. With
an estimated population growth of 8,920 associated with the
new housing, this means in Whitehill & Bordon some 1,400 jobs
will come from existing local firms expanding due to increased
demand for goods and services.
Small and start up
Total
Number of
projects
1
2
4
15
25
45
275
367
Average
employees
400
190
75
40
15
6
3
-
Total jobs
400
380
300
606
375
270
825
3,156
The total of 367 companies generating 3,156 jobs gives an
average of 8.6 jobs per company which is in line with the East
Hampshire average of jobs per company of 8.3.
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Revised Draft
Phasing
This quantity of investment projects will be attracted over the
full development period, as sites become available and in
parallel with the development of housing and the necessary
infrastructure. The phasing of sites has been outlined in the
Masterplan:
Phase 1: 2012 - 2014 Interim uses on Louisburg Barracks
and development of Quebec Barracks
Phase 2: 2015 to 2019 Development commences on
Louisburg Barracks and town centre
Phase 3: 2020 to 2024 Development of edge of town centre
with commercial leisure
Phase 4: 2025 onwards Completion of employment sites and
town centre
Sites
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
2012 - 2014
2015-2019
2020-2024
2025 +
Jobs
Jobs
Jobs
Jobs
Sqm
Sqm
Sqm
154
1,880
Viking Park
125
8,176
Town
centre
0
0
832 16,733
517 10,400
Louisburg
Barracks
0
0
646
438
14000
Edge of
town centre
0
0
329
7,744
493 11,691
Total
279
10,056
1,284 32,144
1,767 42,933
1,478 37,425
Summary of Actions
Monitoring & Evaluation - Monitor and evaluate the
investment promotion and services against the objectives and
targets.
What
Sqm
Quebec
Barracks
20692
Over time as sites are developed and investment projects
secured the emphasis and key messages of the investment
promotion will change to reflect the market conditions and
nature of development opportunities at the time. It is proposed
that a review of the investment promotion and services be
undertaken at the commencement of each development phase.
125
8176
1,149
23066
Targets
Monitor projects against the site
development and job generation targets
Measures
Establish measures for recording
investment projects including;
Reporting
19
How

Sector information

Links with neighbouring centres

Local business expansions
Set up a reporting process to evaluate
whether activities are meeting
objectives
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Inward Investment Strategy 2013
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Revised Draft



RESOURCES & FUNDING
Inward investment promotion, enquiry and project handling and
after-care services require a significant amount of resources.
These can be drawn from partners and stakeholders, but it is
recommended that a resource is identified within the Eco-town
team with responsibility for investment promotion and services.
Investment project management
After-care
Monitoring and evaluation
Funding
Budget allocation has been made in the financial year 2013/14
to deliver certain investment activities, as follows:
Staffing
The economic development theme lead will oversee and deliver
much of this activity, working closely with the economic
development team. Resources will also be drawn from the
communication lead to support the marketing, website and PR
elements of the work. The Project Director and Councillors will
provide additional resource by meeting with companies and
through their lobbying activities.
Marketing
Publicity & advertising
Commercial assessment
Business needs research
Skills centre & learning vision
Hampshire County Council has offered support in the
development of sector profiles and links to their sector
managers will be very useful.
When possible further staff resource will be applied for such as
bidding for an apprentice and providing work placements for
under-graduates.
Staff resources will be needed for:
 Proposition development and distribution
 Business engagement
 Sites and premises information up-dating
 Research and intelligence
 Enquiry handling
20
£10,000
£3,000
£10,000
£5,000
£50,000
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Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
ACTION PLAN
This section of the strategy sets out the action plan which takes the tasks identified and translates them into the work that needs to
happen over the next three years. Detail is provided for the first year, with a summary for later years, the detail of which will be
drawn up as projects are implemented and reviewed at the end of the year.
The first year will focus on:
 Developing the information base, collecting data and creating propositions,
 Meeting with companies and agents to build a picture of the market,
 Up-dating and adding new content to the Whitehill & Bordon website,
 Developing and strengthening links to key organisations such as the LEP and Chamber,
 Set monitoring measures.
Year two will;
 Develop the target company database,
 Strengthen links to UKTI,
 Promotion at national trade events,
 Enquiry handling protocols.
Year three and ongoing through out the delivery of the plan will be the need to:
 Monitor trends and gather market intelligence,
 Develop infrastructure and assets,
 Build relationships and models of delivery,
 Consultation and engagement with businesses, agents and developers,
 Monitor and report on progress.
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Year 1 – 2013/14
What
How
Activity
Resources
Local context
Input to East Hampshire
District Council’s A3 corridor
proposition.
Work with the council’s strategic
property and development group to
develop the narrative for the strategic
sites
EHDC Economic development
Work with Business East
Hants to raise the profile of
the opportunities and to gather
a commercial perspective.
Cost: From existing budgets
Regional / Sub regional
investment activities
Liaise with Hampshire County
Council to ensure Whitehill &
Bordon is promoted through
their Invest in Hampshire
initiative and to share
intelligence and co-ordinate
delivery.
Meet regularly with inward investment
team, and meet with new sector
managers when appointed.
HCC Economic development
Sector focus
For each priority sector set-up
a team of people who work or
have an interest in that area.
Identify champions and
ambassadors to promote the
town when they are out
meeting with others.
First sector team to meet for tourism
and leisure to explore hotels
opportunities and development of
cultural assets.
ED Theme Lead and EHDC
Economic development
Input and review Hotel study by EHDC
/ HCC
Link to EHDC tourism work on
Hampshire South Downs – July 2013
22
Cost: From existing budgets
Cost: From existing budgets
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
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Revised Draft
What
How
Activity
Resources
Property market and
sites
Create a spreadsheet of
commercial premises and
sites, including details of
occupiers, vacancies and on
those on the market, rents etc.
Database of existing commercial and
retail units completed.
ED Theme Lead
Monitor property trends and
review site / market
assessments by commercial
agents and promotion
organisations.
Attend the Enterprise M3 property
group workshop on strategic sites April 2013
ED Theme Lead
Review results of the council’s
employment land review for the core
strategy – June 2013
Communications Lead /
apprentice
Market intelligence
Cost: From existing budgets
Database shared with economic teams
in district and county council for use on
their websites – May 2013
Planning Policy team
Research team
Create a profile of the town from the
2011 census – August 2013
Publish findings and implications on
website – September 2013
Market intelligence
Market intelligence
Meet with local site promoters
and agents to learn from their
work and guide future
approaches
Meetings held – June 2013
ED Theme Lead
Explore interest in setting up an agents
forum to discuss the development and
its promotion – October 2013
Cost: From existing budgets
Commission a commercial
assessment and market
demand study for Whitehill &
Bordon
Draft study brief and agree with land
owners and issue invitation to tender –
May 2013
ED theme lead
Work commissioned and completed –
September 2013
23
Cost: £10,000
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
What
How
Activity
Resources
Assets and
Infrastructure
Develop proposals for a
Learning Hub to be at the
heart of the town’s
regeneration.
Meeting with district and county council
to scope work and commission
feasibility study – October 2013
ED theme lead and economic
development
Secure investment in the
provision of super-fast
broadband – link to
Hampshire County Council
work.
Attend Enterprise M3 workshop on
rural broadband – March 2013
Enterprise M3
Develop links with the Enterprise M3
rural broadband working group. Work
with economic development in the
district and county council and support
their initiatives – March 2014
Hampshire County Council
Assets and
Infrastructure
Facilitate the creation of a
local business network
Host a meeting of Hampshire Chamber
of Commerce at the Eco-station – June
2013
ED theme lead
Incentives
Investigate the benefits and
impacts of any potential
incentive scheme, including
costs and fit with council
objectives.
Provide a briefing paper on incentives
and make recommendation as to
whether they should be available in the
town. Link to funding strategy work –
September 2013
ED Theme Lead
Meet and discuss with
partners their investment
promotion and services’
activities. Agree how best to
share resources, avoid
duplication and organise and
collaborate on delivery.
Areas of joint work identified with
economic development in the district
and county councils. Regular liaison
meetings will continue.
ED Theme Lead
Assets and
Infrastructure
Partners’ Roles
Work with both to input to the delivery
model being proposed for investment
services across Enterprise M3 area.
24
Cost: £50,000
East Hampshire District Council
Cost: From existing budgets
East Hampshire District Council
Cost: to be identified in
proposals
EDHC / HCC economic
development
Cost: From existing budgets
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
What
How
Activity
Resources
Sector Propositions
Create a standard template
and research the assets and
infrastructure Whitehill &
Bordon has to promote its
strengths and advantages.
Sector profiles to be completed with
support from Hampshire County
Council
ED Theme Lead
Hotel & Leisure – October 2013
Cost: From existing budgets
Target large multiinternational business
and high growth small
& medium size
enterprises (SMEs).

Clean technologies

Tourism, retail and Leisure

IT, software, digital media
Produce Target Company
Profiles for each of the target
growth sectors.
Research and identify
companies that match the
profile and to which to send
the sector propositions.
Create a business contact
database to track engagement
activities and potential
investment projects.
Target local businesses Contact local medium to large
to maximise
business to identify projects
opportunities in their
through their supply chain.
supply chain.
Hampshire County Council
Env. Technologies – Jan 2014
IT & Digital – March 2014
Profile template created and populated:
ED Theme Lead
Hotel & Leisure – October 2013
Hampshire County Council
Env. Technologies – Jan 2014
Cost: From existing budgets
IT & Digital – March 2014
Link with HCC on the development of
client management system / contact
database – March 2014
Commission engagement work to
identify key local companies and
research their business needs –
November 2013
ED theme lead
Support Councillors in their visits to
local businesses
Cost: £5,000
25
EHDC economic development
Councillors
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
What
How
Activity
Resources
Brand development
and marketing
PR campaigns – place news
and articles in property
magazines and sector specific
trade magazines, e.g.
Use activity and any achievement of
milestones on Quebec Barracks and
Louisburg Barracks to promote the
town in the press
ED theme lead
Work with marketing and
communications to create an
investment brochure. Agree with the
Land Owners – November 2013
ED Theme lead



Brand development
and marketing

Website
Cost: From existing budgets
Estate Gazette
Planning & Regeneration
Property Week
Publish and disseminate
marketing materials and fact
sheets, create an investment
brochure and distribute to, for
example;

Communications
local, regional and national
agents
local enterprise partnership
members
Up-date and expand the
investment content on the
Whitehill & Bordon website.
Ensure it links to Invest-inHampshire site and others as
appropriate.
Use the website to drive interest in
registering for information – March
2014
Communication lead /
apprentice
Cost: £10,000
Investment page on Whitehill & Bordon
site to be up-dated and improved –
August 2014
ED Theme lead
Provide link to Hampshire site which is
to be refreshed and improved
Cost: From existing budgets
26
Communication lead /
apprentice
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
What
How
Activity
Resources
Measures
Establish measures for
recording investment projects
including;
Set out measures to reflect the
objectives of the investment activities
and share with economic development
in district and county councils. Provide
details within the annual report – March
2014
ED theme lead
Annual report to the Delivery Board on
investment activity – March 2014
ED theme lead
Reporting

Sector information

Links with neighbouring
centres

Local business expansions
Set up a reporting process to
evaluate whether activities are
meeting objectives
27
EHDC / HCC economic
development
Cost: From existing budgets
Cost: From existing budgets
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Year 2 – 2014/15
Year 2 – 2014/15
Enquiry handling and
project management
Year 3 2015/16 and ongoing
Identify and promote a single point
of contact for enquires.
Brand development and
marketing
Undertake regular
consultation and engagement
with the private sector to raise
the profile of the town, to
gather details of perspective
investment projects and use
their marketing channels.
Create an enquiry record template
to ensure all investment project
requirements are captured.
Agree a process with partners and
investment promotion organisations
to share enquiries and provide a coordinated response.
Assets and Infrastructure
Support the Eco-town retrofit
programme to help develop local
markets.
Regional / Sub regional
investment activities
Link to the promotion and
monitor the developments in
neighbouring economic
growth centres to ensure
Whitehill & Bordon is
positioned competitively.
Assets and Infrastructure
Explore and support MUSCO &
ESCO development to provide for
new infrastructure, generation and
management of energy and water
utilities.
Regional / Sub regional
investment activities
Work with key stakeholders
including Enterprise M3 and
Partnership for Urban South
Hampshire Low Carbon
Economy Group to raise the
profile of the Eco-town and to
seek opportunities for
collaboration and shared
delivery
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Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
Year 2 – 2014/15
March 2013
Revised Draft
Year 3 2015/16 and ongoing
Pro-actively target foreign
business that fit with the
target company profiles
Explore with UKTI the support and
expertise available to assist in
overseas promotion and if
appropriate agree a memorandum
of understanding.
After-care
Develop a programme of
engagements with new
investors to the town. Obtain
information on investment
potential from the council’s
strategic business visits.
Brand development and
marketing
Participate in property / investment
exhibitions and trade events, e.g.
Targets
Monitor projects against the
site development and job
generation targets
Brand development and
marketing

Attend Eco-build 2013 and have
a stand to promote the Eco-town

MIPIM
Host local investment events and
seminars at the Eco-station, for
example by hosting business
meetings for;



local enterprise partnerships
Hampshire chambers of
commence
Property agents and developers
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Inward Investment Strategy 2013
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Revised Draft
Appendix 1. Eco-town Economic Development and Employment Strategy
Marketing and Investment Actions
Action
F. Marketing and
Investment
Key objectives
 Promote a compelling and distinctive image for Whitehill Bordon that appeals to investors and
creates a sense of identity
 Secure new inward investment from the rest of the UK and overseas
 Enhance strategic linkages with the Blackwater valley towns and urban South Hampshire
Action
Potential delivery partners
Timescale
Priority
F1 Ensure that investment opportunities, including
Enterprise M3 LEP
Medium term Medium
the Eco-business parks are effectively promoted.
UK Trade & Investment
Engage with suitable inward investment networks.
Hampshire County Council
East Hampshire DC
Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Commercial property agents
F2 Develop external business promotion of the Eco- WHBT,
Short /
Medium
town, possibly including the creation of a “Choose
Medium term
Hampshire County Council
Whitehill Bordon” website. Encourage joint subBusiness East Hants
regional promotions
Enterprise M3 LEP
F3 Develop sources of external funding to support
Hampshire County Council
Whole of plan High
the delivery of the actions and encourage public –
East Hampshire DC
private partnership investment arrangements
Enterprise M3 LEP EHB
F4 Work with the other Eco-towns and Eco-cities to
Other Eco-towns & elsewhere in Europe
Short /
Medium
develop joint initiatives for promotion and co-branding
Medium term
F5 Enhance and develop statistical knowledge and
Hampshire County Council
Whole of plan Medium
economic performance data relevant to the town.
East Hampshire DC
30
Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town
Inward Investment Strategy 2013
March 2013
Revised Draft
Appendix 2: Eco-town Masterplan employment sites
31