OUR HISTORY
How it all began
A great place to do business for decades
Langthwaite Grange Industrial Estate (as it was known originally) was first established on 23rd April 1949 and opened by Harold Wilson when he was the President of the Board of Trade. The first factory on the estate was that of Messer's C & J Hurst who were wool spinners.
Langthwaite changed its name from Industrial Estate to Business Park on 11th February 2008 following £1.2 million pounds of funding secured for the park by Wakefield first ( the Development Agency for Wakefield Council). The funding was provided by the then Government Agency English Partnerships.
The funding enabled the park to be regenerated and rejuvenated and now is home to over 100 businesses. The change in name reflects the new status of the park and the quality of the businesses that are located here.
Langthwaite Business Park was the first business park in Yorkshire to attain Business Improvement District (BID) Status. The first BID began on Langthwaite in April 2011 and was set up to operate for a period of five years (2011 to 2016).
The BID is currently in its third term, having been renewed for a further five years in 2016 and then again in 2021. The current BID will run until the end of March 2026. The investment has provided services to business including Park Wide CCTV, Patrolling Security Officers, Winter Gritting, maintaining a clean and tidy environment and Park Management Services.
Langthwaite over 10 years
Before the first BID started in April 2011, Langthwaite Grange Industrial Estate, as it was then known, had one of the highest rates of crime in the District, a dilapidated environment with concerns about safety for the estate users. Investment and jobs were declining with businesses leaving the estate.
Led by Wakefield first, the development agency for the District, a number of pioneering business owners on the estate got together to secure funding to install security, infrastructure and environmental measures to halt the decline of this key economic driver for the locality. The Estate was renamed Langthwaite Business Park.
These pioneers were paying a voluntary subscription to meet the costs of the security and other services. To ensure fairness, sustainability, secure funding and a vibrant future for the Park, the first BID was established in 2011.
In the first five years of the 2011 BID, the priority was to tackle the issues of serious deterioration of the park environment, particularly targeting crime incidents (theft, vandalism and anti-social behaviour) which were negatively affecting businesses across the park and costing many of them significant resources every year.
Travelling to and from work was perceived as a risk both from traffic hazards, icy roads in winter or simply walking or cycling along overgrown and poorly lit paths. The overall environment presented a negative customer and client experience.
The first and current BID has addressed many of these challenges and changed the area for the better. It is a more attractive and functional environment for park users. However, as all successful businesses know, complacency is not an option. To continue to be successful a business needs to build on and maintain its edge.
And that is what the LBA has been doing on the park for the last 10 years and intends doing so in the future.
The Park before the BID
Before the BID began its work, Langthwaite Business Park attracted fly tipping, anti-social behaviour, break-ins and other crime. It was also neglected and businesses were beginning to move out.