THE company behind Warrington’s giant Omega development site has won a top award.
Omega Warrington Ltd (OWL) – a joint venture between Miller Developments and KUC Properties Ltd (part of The Royal Bank of Scotland’s West Register Property), has been awarded North West Property Company of the Year by the leading national commercial property publication Estates Gazette.
The company is bringing forward the £1 billion Omega development in Warrington in partnership with The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and supported by Warrington Borough Council.
The prestigious award was announced at Estates Gazette’s North West awards held during its annual “Focus” reception in Manchester.
OWL, which won the award based on occupier lettings progress made on Omega North, faced tough competition and beat high profile companies the Co-operative Group, Manchester Airports Group, and the Peel Group to the top prize.
Jonathan Wallis from Miller Developments, who accepted the prize on behalf of the company, comments: “This award is fantastic recognition by the property market, and a high profile national magazine, of the efforts made by the company to ensure Omega would be able go ahead quickly once the market was showing signs of recovery.
“Working closely with the HCA and the council, we have worked hard to find innovative solutions which would make Omega attractive and easy for occupiers to come here.
“We are delighted that in the last few months this commitment has resulted in a massive leap in occupier interest and our first occupier, Brakes, starting on site. We hope that this award from Estates Gazette will help to raise the profile of the scheme even further to a whole range of national occupiers so they are clear that Omega is now very much open for business.”
OWL has confirmed that a number of further occupier announcements are imminent, including one on the first plot being taken on Omega South.
These occupiers will create around 2,200 permanent and varied skills jobs and around 1,000 construction jobs in the next couple of years.
Deborah McLaughlin, HCA Executive Director for the North West, said: “Omega is a great example of public and private bodies combining their expertise to deal with the market downturn generate investment and create jobs. It’s great to see cranes on the site and steel structures coming out of the ground. There’s a lot of interest in the Omega scheme and this award will boost its profile even further as we work hard to attract more occupiers and reach our goal of creating around 24,000 jobs.”
CllrTerry O’Neill, leader of Warrington Borough Council said: “We have always maintained that the Omega site offers an almost unrivalled opportunity to create a commercial location of great significance. The council and local development partnership Warrington and Co has worked closely with Omega Warrington Ltd and other partners throughout this process to ensure this site is unlocked and as many jobs as possible are created for local people.”
