In six months' time Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) will be united under a new local authority, to be known as ‘Urban Dorset’. Overnight the new local authority will become the 12th largest in the country in terms of population: larger than Cardiff, Southampton and Exeter and only 14 per cent smaller than Bristol.

By combining the powers of the three areas, the new local authority should become greater than the sum of its parts. It will have better influence with Government, access to more funding opportunities and a more strategic approach to infrastructure planning, housing development and employment growth.

In terms of the latter, BCP already has the 10th highest number of businesses per person of all UK cities and the fourth highest concentration of digital and creative industries in the UK outside of London, giving it the nickname ‘Silicon Beach’. Under the new local authority, BCP has the opportunity to build on these strengths to attract new employers, as well as supporting the growth of existing businesses.

But the right kind of space and support is needed to do so and the challenge for BCP is to ensure it delivers it to attract occupiers. Historically, rents have been flat, which, with rising building costs, has restricted viability, meaning that very limited new office stock has been provided in the area over the last 25 years 

However, the Lansdowne area is being developed into a ’world class’ business district, supported by £8.5 million of Government grants. Student housing and academic space has dominated development there to date, but with 5G and superfast broadband in the area, it has several attractions for companies.

Earlier this year – in conjunction with a student housing scheme – 46,000 sq ft of new office space at Lansdowne was successfully let to a tech company prior to completion, showing there is demand in the market if the right space becomes available.

There are also three other key commercial  locations we’ve identified  in our latest report, which will come into play under ’Urban Dorset’ to support workspace growth.

The innovation village at Talbot Heath, on the Bournemouth/Poole boundary and adjacent to two universities, is ideally located to accommodate the type of space needed by the tech/media/creative sector and to capture graduate talent. But BCP needs to work with the universities and LEP to provide incubator space and support spin off start-up companies to develop it to its full potential.

The second opportunity is the airport business park between Bournemouth and Christchurch, which is already home to several major aviation engineering companies and a host of other occupiers. With greater capacity at the airport, several development sites and an existing business community, it provides an exciting chance to add more space and attract more businesses.

Finally, a concentration of marine engineering companies at Poole Harbour and the 36,000 sq m of employment space already planned in the area, provides the opportunity to elevate this business cluster to the next level.

Unlike other locations in the South Coast Marine Cluster (SCMP), Poole Harbour has no research and development facilities, but with 86 per cent of SCMP companies expecting to expand in the next year, it could attract some of this growth if it delivers the space these occupiers need.

Further information

Read more: Spotlight: The New Urban Dorset