ABOUT US
IM Properties is one of the UK’s largest privately-owned companies and a significant investor in the Midlands.
Working with communities, local authorities and household-name businesses, we have a strong track record of bringing forward high-quality developments across the region.
We invest in places as well as sites. We are committed to high-quality design, sustainability and delivering social value beyond the boundaries of our sites. We will apply this same approach to our proposals throughout the delivery of Stratford46 Business Park.
As one of the UK’s largest privately owned property companies, we have a significant role to play in helping to decarbonise our economy and create a cleaner, greener, more responsible future, which is why we have worked hard to develop a new sustainability strategy.
This is why we launched our Sustainable Futures framework in 2021, which sets out our ambitions to 2030, based around three central themes of People, Place and Planet. Each theme has a long-term ambition underpinned with key objectives. We know that we cannot deliver our ambitions alone and therefore Partnerships & Practices are also at the heart of our plans. Our plans also align to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
We’ve pledged that, over the next decade and beyond, sustainability will be at the heart of our work. Calling on our experience, financial strength and strategic decision-making, we aim to deliver better value, build stronger relationships with our stakeholders, and crucially leave a beneficial legacy in the communities where we work.
Our long-term sustainability strategy is based around a key purpose: to create a sustainable future together, and our vision: to be innovative in creating sustainable developments, fit for the future.
Our track record
We seek to deliver a positive legacy through our development and investment in local communities.
Mercia Park
Located at junction 11 of the A/M42 in North West Leicestershire, Mercia Park is a ground-breaking development which has become an important economic asset for the local area and wider region. The development has now delivered 3.5 million sq. ft. of high-quality employment floorspace and is home to JLR’s flagship Global Logistics Centre (operated by Unipart). 12 hectares of woodland and 4km of new paths have been delivered on site, and Mercia Park currently employs over 2,300 people on site.
We have worked to deliver social value at Mercia Park from the outset. Working with our contractor and supply chain, we have provided jobs, work experience and training opportunities alongside engaging with local businesses to maximise contract and supplier opportunities locally. We have supported local schools, colleges and universities to inspire young people to consider careers in the construction and built environment sectors.
We set up an on-site ‘Future of Construction’ Training Centre that was used by our contractor and local training providers to host skills courses and recruitment days, and opened a Sustainability & Innovation Hub to showcase new technologies being used in the development and provide a space to host educational visits. Separately, we launched the £350,000 Mercia Park Community Fund to help local projects. Managed by Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation, the fund typically offered grants of up to £5,000 primarily to projects that strengthen communities or improve the natural environment.
Blythe Valley Park
Located near Solihull, Blythe Valley Park is creating one of the Midlands’ most ambitious new sustainable, mixed-use communities. This established, master planned site is set in a stunning 122-acre country park and is home to world class occupiers including Gymshark and Tesla.
Our vision was to create a thriving community whilst redeveloping Blythe Valley Park into an exceptional place to work and live. Blythe Valley Park is well connected and strategically located at the heart of the UK’s motorway network, adjacent to M42 J4. It accommodates over 25 businesses across sectors including R&D, fashion retail, industrial and logistics.
3,500 jobs and 750 homes have now been delivered, located just 10 minutes away from Solihull town centre and just 12 minutes from Birmingham International Airport.
Birch Coppice Business Park
IM Properties has transformed Birch Coppice Business Park over 20 years from a disused colliery employing 1,500 people into a thriving business environment with over 6,500 jobs, having invested £350 million over three phases.
Strategically located at M42 J10, Birch Coppice is now home to over 21 occupiers including Ocado, UPS, Bunzl and Euro Car Parts, with over 35%% of employees living within 5 miles of the scheme. Birch Coppice has also won numerous awards including the Birmingham Post Regeneration of the Year in 2012 and the IAS Development of the Year in 2015.
IM Properties paid respect to Birch Coppice’s former uses and the community linked with that by erecting a miner’s memorial in 2012 at the entrance to the scheme. In the past, coal-mining was at the heart of the North Warwickshire economy, and even at its peak, Birch Coppice colliery only employed around 1,500 miners, surface workers and staff. Compared to now, the park is home to 6,500 jobs – with over 2,000 of these at the Ocado facility on site.
Today the scheme has in excess of 370,000sqm of occupied floorspace, and has top connectivity links via a £15 million freight rail connection constructed in 2005. The scheme was IM Properties’ first large development project and remains the blueprint for how IM Properties wants to deliver our future industrial sites.
