Filton Journal

Landmark building on corner of Gipsy Patch Lane and Gloucester Road due to open in November.

As north Bristol’s newest hotel nears completion at Horizon 38 in Filton, more deals have been announced at the rapidly developing 60-acre business park, one of the biggest mixed-use schemes of its kind in the country.

The Village Urban Resorts 153-bed hotel, which is located on the corner of the A38 and Gipsy Patch Lane, is quickly becoming a landmark in the area. Seven storeys high, the hotel, which is due to open in November this year, is clearly visible from the A38. The business class hotel will feature a business and events HUB, and a state-of-the-art health and fitness club including swimming pool, bar and restaurant. It is expected to create 100 new jobs for the area.

Paul Hobbs at GVA, joint letting agent with JLL for developers St Francis Group and iSec at Horizon 38 says:

“Village Urban Resorts is a high profile and successful national brand, which we are very pleased to have anchoring the new commercial park within Horizon 38.”

“Together with Selco Builders Warehouse, which opened its doors to customers in May, the hotel has without doubt acted as a catalyst for the wider employment and industrial development, with two new occupiers, LSI Workplace Europe, and Motor Parts Direct, the latest to become a part of the business community here.”

LSI Workplace Europe, provider of office furniture installation and relocation services, is now open and trading, having relocated from Avonmouth to be a part of Horizon 38. Motor Parts Direct has also chosen Horizon 38 for its latest branch supplying quality car parts to the independent garage industry. Motor Parts Direct is expecting to be trading from its new unit in September.

More: New units aimed at firms in manufacturing and logistics sectors »

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Phase two of north Bristol’s Horizon 38 scheme, one of the biggest mixed-use redevelopment projects in the country, is nearing completion.

Situated on the former East Works site, south of Gipsy Patch Lane, the area has been a hive of activity since construction began in earnest in late 2016.

Access to the site is via two new roads off Gipsy Patch Lane, now named Titan Way (closest to the railway bridge) and Taurus Road, both after historic engines produced by the Bristol Aeroplane Company.

Notable buildings currently nearing completion include a giant 115,500 sq ft warehouse (equivalent to the size of two football pitches) built on a speculative basis (i.e. without an agreed tenant), and accessed from Titan Way.

Paul Hobbs of joint letting agents GVA comments, “Unit G2 at Horizon 38 is a positive reaction by the developer to a real lack of any quality big shed supply in the Bristol and regional property market. The building is particularly targeted at ‘last mile’ supply chain companies such as Amazon who need to be very close to the customer – an expanding new market known as urban logistics.”

Adjacent to unit G2, and also fronting Gipsy Patch Lane, is a 35,000 sq ft trade centre for Selco, a national chain of trade-only builders’ merchants. This significant anchor occupier is currently advertising for staff and is expected to open in May.

Behind Selco, and accessed from Taurus Road is unit F1, a terrace of seven trade showrooms. The new high specification units, with allocated customer parking, provide businesses with a prominent frontage to promote their trade counters and showrooms.

Elsewhere on the site, Willmott Dixon has begun construction of a new 153-bedroom hotel for Village Urban Resorts. Occupying the prominent plot on the corner of the A38 and Gipsy Patch Lane, opposite Drive Vauxhall, the new Village Hotel Club will deliver a business class hotel with a business and events HUB and a state-of-the-art health and fitness club including swimming pool, bar and restaurant.

More: proposed seven-acre car supermarket will front onto A38 »

Avon and Somerset Police have issued two CCTV images of a man they want to identify in connection with an armed robbery at a convenience store in Filton.

A man walked into the Spar in Filton Avenue at around 7.30am on Monday (2nd October) brandishing a small axe. He threatened staff and stole a quantity of money from the till.

It’s believed he left the store and headed towards Northville Road, where he got into a vehicle.

He is described as white, of average to slim build, about 5ft 7ins, and wearing a dark blue jacket with a grey hood and a black scarf covering his face.

A police spokesperson said:

“The area around Filton Avenue is usually busy with commuters at the time this robbery occurred. Did you see the incident? Do you remember seeing a man matching this description go into or leave the store?”

“We also want to speak to a man who stopped in a vehicle at the scene and said he saw the offender get into a vehicle in the Northville Road area. Was this you?”

Anyone with information is asked to call Investigations on 101 and give the call handler the reference number 5217224421.

If you don’t want to speak to the police, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They never ask your name or trace your call.

Source: Press release from Avon and Somerset Police

The next Community Engagement Forum (CEF) for Filton and Patchway takes places at 7pm this evening, Wednesday 20th September, at the Pavilion in Elm Park, Filton.

Community Engagement Forums, previously known as Safer and Stronger Community Groups are about listening and responding to local people’s real issues. People in their communities know best what works for them and what their real needs are.

Items on the agenda for today’s meeting include a presentation on the Aerospace Bristol museum (due to open soon on the former Filton Airfield site), plus updates on South Gloucestershire Council’s emergency planning and the Patchway Community Plan.

Representatives from Avon and Somerset Police and Avon Fire & Rescue are also expected to be in attendance to provide updates.

Items from previous meetings that may be discussed again include the possible use  of white advisory lines in Patchway (in particular Durban Road), Speedwatch signs (“to be erected in the very near future”) and a request that police “increase their vigilance in Elm Park”.

More info: Agenda for the CEF meeting on Wednesday 20th September