A NEW office development on the outskirts of Weston will help advertise the town to investors and end its reputation as a dormitory for Bristol.

That’s the view of commercial property experts Hartnell Taylor Cook, the firm advising developer Dowlas UK over the creation of the Weston Gateway Business Park.

Dowlas says the 118,000sq ft park is already stimulating interest across a wide range of market sectors, and could have a huge impact on Weston’s business prospects.

Weston Gateway – situated just off the A370 on the M5 junction 21 approach – is one of the largest development sites in the South West and will include the new headquarters of Knightstone Housing Association.

But Andrew Batchelor, a partner in the Bristol office of Hartnell Taylor Cook, says other firms are watching with interest – and further deals with interested parties are not far away.

He said: “Weston is often much-maligned as a place where nothing much gets done and the vast proportion of the working population performs a daily mass-exodus to Bristol for work.

“However times are changing and Weston Gateway is proof that businesses are prepared to back the town and put significant resource into its infrastructure, manifesting in superb new projects such as this.

“The fact is that in the current market there just aren’t that many developments like this to be found in the South West which has created pent-up demand.

“Not only is this site a superb advertisement for Weston, letting people know that it means business and is capable of sustaining inward investment, it will also be a welcome boost for the local jobs market, creating sustainable jobs in an area which desperately needs employment opportunities.”

The first buildings are set to be occupied in a matter of months, with work currently progressing ahead of schedule.

Dowlas UK director Gemma Hughes said: “We are extremely pleased with the progress of the Weston Gateway Business Park.

“The brand new state-of-the-art headquarters for Knightstone Housing Association will be the first completed project on site and should be occupied by spring 2013.

“People travelling in and out of Weston will have seen that the impressive steel framework for the building is now constructed and we really appreciate the hard work that our contractors, Midas Construction, have achieved on site to date to bring the project in ahead of schedule.”