16th February 2023

Healthcare sector drives transactional activity at Blackbrook Business Park

Agency & Commercial Development

The healthcare sector has been behind a series of recent transactions at Somerset’s Blackbrook Business Park, says property consultancy Alder King.

Over 55,000 sq ft of office space has been let to occupiers in the sector over the past 12 months, with new facilities including medical diagnostics centres, dental and eye surgery clinics.

Alder King partner Andrew Maynard says there has been significant change in the occupier profile at Blackbrook, with a growing number of healthcare occupiers repurposing office accommodation for their use.

“The healthcare industry is one of the world’s fastest growing markets and has been identified in Somerset West and Taunton Council’s Adopted Core Strategy as one of three key growth sectors, alongside education and retailing.  This strategy is clearly bearing fruit, with new healthcare facilities opening not just on Blackbrook but across the county.”

The most high profile example of this trend is the Taunton Diagnostic Centre which opened in September 2021 in the 35,000 sq ft Zenith House on Blackbrook.  Previously run by the Rutherford Health Group which went into administration last June, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust took a new lease on the property earlier this year.  The Centre, the first of its kind in England, offers increased access to diagnostic tests in a stand-alone modern facility away from a busy hospital, helping to cut patient waiting lists.

Andrew Maynard continued: “Demand from the healthcare sector remains robust, and with one final development phase available on Blackbrook, this provides options for other footloose healthcare enquiries.  The developer Summerfield Developments is flexible about how this final phase is developed.”