Aston Lloyd’s Uppingham site is located adjacent to the village of Gretton, near the town of Uppingham, Leicestershire. The county is one of the few in England to have a dedicated promotion agency, aimed at promoting inward investment to the area, as well as helping businesses expand within the region.
Due to its central location, the county holds the headquarters and distribution centres of a number of major international companies, such as the Next clothing chain, Walkers crisps, Caterpillar, and the National Space Centre, and continues to expand, with new developments needed to house the workers who move to the area.
Europe is accessible in just four hours, and access to major motorways reaching all areas of the UK means Leicestershire is extremely attractive for business, with £3 billion of inward investment projected in the next five years, after receiving record levels of investment in 2008, creating 1,053 new jobs across the county (Invest Leicestershire, 2008).
One of Europe’s largest housing projects, the £80 million Freemens Meadow development is currently under construction on a 37-acre site, providing 1,000 new homes, and Leicestershire is also in consultation to be a recipient of an eco-town, the Pennbury development. This will bring 15,000 to 20,000 sustainably built homes. The town is currently planned for Stoughton on the outskirts of the city of Leicester, towards Aston Lloyd’s site of land (Department for Communities and Local Government, November 2008).
In Gretton itself house prices have remained broadly stable as the country moves out of the economic downturn, with four bedroom properties at approximately £298,000.
The area is marked as a growth region for the future, and is looking to grow rapidly once confidence returns to the property market.
