A partnership between Lichfield District Council, business leaders and British Business Parks has helped to put a Burntwood industrial estate firmly on the map.

The stakeholders have worked together to revitalise the Burntwood Business Park through a series of improvements and signage.

A business report carried out last year concluded that the four business parks in Burntwood were badly signposted.

In response to this, Lichfield District Council agreed to help fund a business park coordinator to oversee the regeneration of Burntwood’s four principle business parks – Chasetown, Chase Terrace, Chasewater and Chasewater Heaths.

The report said that the four sites lacked cohesiveness and needed a sense of identity. It concluded the easiest way of doing this would be to bring all four sites under one banner, the Burntwood Business Park.

By successfully accessing grant aid from the European Regional Development Fund, British Business Parks has been able to secure significant investment in the site.One of the clearest forms of investment has been in new signage, both for aesthetic value and in helping to make it easier for customers to find their businesses.

Lichfield District Council has already granted planning permission for the new signage, which was officially unveiled when Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant joined business leaders and BBP representatives for an opening ceremony.

London and Cambridge Properties is the major property holder in the area, with significant interests on several of the sites.

The Black Country-based company has made no secret of the fact that it has been attracted to Burntwood because of its easy links with the new M6 Toll, Britain’s first pay-to-drive motorway.

The new signage is the culmination of a targeted improvement plan for the site, coordinated by British Business Parks.

Prior to the work, British Business Parks, together with its other partners, carried out a consultation of firms on the estate to determine what measures they would like to see introduced.

One of the main requirements was to give the site a sense of identity, hence the need for new signage and an entrance map with the location of each unit so that customers could find the businesses more easily.

British Business Parks coordinated this on behalf of the firms, obtained quotes, organised a local company to make and erect the signs, and worked out how much each business would have to pay for the maintenance of the sign.

In addition to Burntwood, BBP is also coordinating work across the West Midlands.