Wates Construction and Perfect Circle have jointly completed £22m worth of works at the Loughborough University Science Enterprise Park (LUSEP) for Leicestershire County Council (LCC).

Situated off Holywell Way in Loughborough, LUSEP is a new build commercial development providing 80,000 sq m of Category A office space spread over three floors. The space will see a revenue of £1.6m a year to support vital front-line county council services.

Built on land owned by Loughborough University, LUSEP forms part of Leicestershire County Council’s ambitions to develop its estate to help provide long-term financial benefits for the region. The site has already found a tenant, with global business software firm, The Access Group, leasing it for its new UK headquarters.

Wates completed all building, mechanical and electrical works, with the design meeting a BREEAM rating of Very Good. Extensive planning and ground design works were also carried out in collaboration with the client and their team to ensure a cost effective solution on the previously sloped site. All were carried out with due consideration of the existing ecology and environmental needs of the site, including the installation of a bat fence.

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Perfect Circle delivered consultancy in the early stages of design, as well as project management, quantity surveying, and principle designer services. The consultancy also provided mechanical and engineering, civils and structures support.

Wates and Perfect Circle were both appointed via SCAPE, the UK’s leading public sector procurement authority. The SCAPE Construction and SCAPE Consultancy frameworks are designed to accelerate delivery and facilitate collaboration across the project, whilst driving local economic impact, as well as time and cost savings for LCC.

The Wates team also worked closely with the client and its supply chain to ensure the project delivered considerable benefits for the community, with £56,000 spent with local Social Enterprises, 23 apprenticeships supported and 33 new jobs created for local tradespeople.

Construction started on site at LUSEP in February 2019, with the team handing over in November 2020.

John Carlin, regional managing director for the Midlands at Wates Construction, said: "While the current economic climate and rise of homeworking has caused some to doubt the future of commercial property, LUSEP's completion is a positive sign for the wider market, and it remains a focus for our business in the Midlands.

"As with any of our projects procured via SCAPE, we worked in tandem with our client to ensure this site delivered exactly what was needed – a modern, sustainable office building which would benefit the council commercially in the long-term, built via considerate methods which would be sympathetic with the environment and support the community during its construction and beyond. This is reflected in our 9.5/10 client satisfaction score, and is a testament to our teams' dedication to collaboration and innovative delivery."