The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee provided SOG Group with a perfect platform to illustrate the importance of community to the vision for Heath Park.
The Heath Park concept evolved from a global competition challenging architects, designers, planners, and forward thinkers to create a sustainable futuristic environment, powered by renewable energy, where people can live, work and play. This resulted in an extraordinary scheme to meet the challenges of Climate Change through the creation of a 21st century version of Port Sunlight.
Heath Park reflects the ethos that The Heath Business and Technical places on community engagement, which is a unique part of the business model of SOG Group, the site owners.
The Heath Community Video – incorporating the Jubilee Party
SOG boss John Lewis MBE says: “Although first and foremost The Heath is a place for business, over the years we have a built a reputation for engaging with our community by allowing our facilities to be enjoyed by local residents, young and elderly. It’s something that I believe sets us apart from other business parks where we are able to stage a wide range of events and functions which generate a genuine community spirit here.
“The ethos for Heath Park’s is modelled on ‘Port Sunlight’, the Victorian village built by industrialist Viscount Leverhulme in the 1800s to address appalling living conditions of the time. Lord Leverhulme’s inspiring idea created houses and community facilities in a healthy environment for workers of his soap factory, and our goal is to see that a 21st century version of Port Sunlight evolves here at Heath Park in the future.
“Among the many events we organise for local people, our monthly ‘Eat@TheHeath’ lunches for local residents have become immensely popular. To mark The Queen’s Jubilee we organised a very special celebration that underpins our commitment to our community.”
Eileen Miller, The Heath’s Site Charter and Community Manager, says: “We entertained around 200 people including some of the carers who accompanied some of our guests. Most of our guests are over 50s, though many are in their 70s and 80s with our eldest attendee Doreen Russell who is a spritely 93-years-old! We also reserved two tables for younger people who are linked with M-Power, one of our resident businesses on The Heath, which offer assistance to people with learning, physical or sensory impairments.”
Guests who attended on Wednesday, June 1st were encouraged to wear something red, white or blue and were treated to an afternoon tea with Bucks Fizz and non-alcoholic drinks and entertained by singer ‘Lainey’ with lots of patriotic songs.
The Heath Park project is considered an exemplary project underpinning the Government’s 10-point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and aligns with the strategy for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It has been adopted as a ‘Beacon Project’ by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and features in the Government’s Global Investment Atlas.
The Heath Park concept revolves around retaining buildings on the Brownfield site through an innovative scheme to repurpose existing buildings alongside new developments to create a Net Zero environment powered by renewable energy. The vision is the culmination of more than two years of methodical research and effort validated by experts, including leading academics from Liverpool and Lancaster Universities. Among a number of innovations is a world-leading Vertical Farm powered entirely by renewable energy.
About SOG Group
SOG Group is one of the UK’s top independent operators of business and science parks and are renowned site regeneration specialists. SOG own The Heath Business and Technical Park in Runcorn, Cheshire, which is home to over 120 individual businesses that between them support the employment of around 2,000 people. Using The Heath business model, SOG created a consultancy operation under the name of ‘Fusion’. SOG’s Fusion team spearheaded the regeneration of a massive site in east London, formerly home to a global pharmaceutical company, where it created Londoneast-uk Business and Technical Park. Until February 2019, SOG operated Londoneast-uk as a sister Park to The Heath before selling it to a company owned by the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. Through its Fusion concept, SOG helped to generate over £2 billion of inward investment to the Dagenham site regeneration programme.
SOG’s Runcorn operation is a unique example of how a successful science and technology park should operate. Many of the organisations located in the facilities are at the very cutting-edge of scientific R&D, with firms specialising from nanotechnology to carbon emissions research and from pioneering work on hip and knee joint replacements to water and waste-water treatment technology. As The Heath site has reached full capacity, SOG has embarked on a new build-programme which allows existing fast-growing resident businesses to move out of multi-occupancy units into their own exclusive bespoke buildings, designed and built by SOG’s team. SOG is currently working on the vision to transform The Heath into a Net Zero carbon environment over the next decade through the creation of Heath Park.
Media contact: Paul Smith Associates (PSA) +44 (0) 7771 623 007
E-mail: paul@paulsmithassociates.co.uk