Member Article

Omnia Property Group to manage pioneering environmental business centre

SHEFFIELD’S Omnia Property Group has been appointed to manage the business centre at what is being hailed as a major new powerhouse for the meat-free sector.

Environmentalist and businesswoman Heather Mills is aiming to make the North East the world centre for the creation of planet-rescuing ideas, business and industry at her new venture, Plant-Based Valley

The 600,000 sq ft complex is based on the site of a former cosmetics factory in Seaton Delaval, near Newcastle, and is already the centre for production of the Heather Mills VBites vegan food range.

Now she is aiming to vastly expand the operation - and create hundreds more jobs for the north east - in response to the increasing demand for plant-based solutions to saving the earth by changing the way we eat.

VBites already produces 140 products and employs 300 people in the North East, with the expectation that this could double in a year.

And the hope is that other environmentally aware businesses will choose Plant-Based Valley as their home, creating a northern powerhouse for the brightest vegan minds to innovate new ways to battle climate change.

Omnia Property Group will be manage the business centre serviced office element of the operation, adding to its growing portfolio of clients across the country and especially in the north east.

“We were delighted when Plant-Based Valley approached us and invited us to become part of their team,” said Omnia Managing Director Joanne Race.

“This is the only site of its type in Europe and is already being hailed as the environmental equivalent of California’s Silicon Valley, not just a site for production but also a site for generating fresh ideas and inspiring new ways of thinking about the environment.

“It’s very important to us because we are actively building our northern platform and to be involved in a project of this scale in the Newcastle area places us right at the heart of that commercial community.”

Plant-Based Valley already provides 55 acres of business and manufacturing space exclusively for the plant-based sector, with a further 10 acres of expansion land which can accommodate 200,000 sq ft of new manufacturing and warehouse space.

“We will be looking after the needs of a very specific client base, which is very different to anything we have done before,” said Joanne.

“But we believe completely in what Heather Mills is aiming to achieve at Seaton Delaval and believe that our expertise in meeting the needs ofd her tenants will contribute enormously to the success of the complex.”

Omnia Property Group, based in Sheffield city centre, is made up of three separate sectors - Omnia Space, Omnia Offices and Omnia Estates.

Its current portfolio includes the management of 1,000,000 square feet of office space, 1500 residential properties and student beds across the UK and more than 1,800 block management units - more than £350,000,000 worth of property in total.

Across the group, Omnia is committed to delivering flexible solutions, value for money and the highest standards of customer service to all clients, whether they are landlords or tenants, maximising income and minimising expenditure.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Highfield .