Homegrown Hereford success story gets VIP official opening

Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman has officially opened the new 20,000 sq ft headquarters of the latest investor to open for business on Hereford Enterprise Zone.

The Minister visited the new home of GB Electrical and Building Services Ltd and toured its new development at Skylon Park on September 8.

The firm’s relocation from its city centre site in Portland Street to the purpose built site is a major landmark for the firm, which was started by husband and wife Terry and Sue Pickering in 1991.

It employs nearly 170 staff with a turnover in excess of £10 million per year, serving domestic, commercial and public sector customers and is now owned by the UK’s biggest name in electrical vehicle charging, Chargemaster.

The new premises at Skylon Park provide offices, a stores facility and the bespoke joinery division of the business and are double the size of its previous home.

Mr Norman, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport, and former Business Minister, said: “The opening is an absolutely fantastic boost, not just for GB Electricals with their new facility, but also for the Enterprise Zone and for Hereford and Herefordshire.
“It shows that actually businesses are growing incredibly fast in this county and shows the success of the Enterprise Zone. I came here with David Cameron a few years ago and it was a completely empty, flat site and now it is a booming bustling zone full of new enterprises generating a lot of new jobs.

Managing Director Terry Pickering said: “We had vastly outgrown our former home and the Enterprise Zone was the ideal location for us.

“As a local business employing local people and sub contractors and, with an established supply chain, we were keen to stay in Hereford so we worked closely with the team at the Enterprise Zone to develop a footprint for the future that suits our business and underpins our plans for growth, which includes recruiting more staff.”

Chairman of the Enterprise Zone Board, Bill Jackson, said: “GB Electrical and Building Services Ltd is a fine example of a local business success story and we are delighted the Enterprise Zone has been able to provide a place for it to grow and thrive.

“This latest investment illustrates the flexibility that the Enterprise Zone can offer businesses to create their own vision for their future.”

Skylon Park is the 72-hectare site designated as the Enterprise Zone of The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, the private sector-led organisation tasked with revitalising the economy of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

Businesses moving onto Skylon Park can benefit from a range of incentives including simplified and free planning, superfast and ultrafast broadband and business rates relief.