The Shell Store incubation centre project has materially completed construction, the building was handed over to the council in September 2020. A number of building tenants are in occupation and an ITT for the procurement of a building operator has been issued. In addition the Enterprise Zone are dealing with a number of active enquiries from prospective tenants.

The configuration and mix of unit sizes at the Shell Store was based on similar projects in operation elsewhere in the country . In practice demand for the smallest units has been very strong and all the 2 person units have been or are about to be taken up already.

To react to this market demand and to maximise the building income there is a requirement to undertake some architectural and M&E design work to establish which larger units could be reconfigured into smaller units without impairing the overall building performance and appearance.

The anticipated costs for undertaking this design work is £8,500.

This change request for design works only. These works will review the feasibility of reconfiguration, the cost and the timescales including whether feasible to undertake within the financial year.

Charging tenants for these alterations was considered but officers came to the conclusion that it ran counter to the agreed approach to make taking accommodation in the building easy and flexible. Tenants, particularly smaller businesses, are likely to be making their first move into a commercial unit and will be attracted by the high quality environment, support on offer, and that they are not tied into long term arrangements. It was considered unlikely that tenants would be prepared to pay for these alterations to our building that would significantly increase their up-front accommodation costs and primarily benefit us in terms of a commercial return.

A further RoOD will be required to undertake any physical reconfiguration works that result from this design process.