WARRINGTON Guardian can exclusively reveal the new face of Birchwood Park as the business centre puts in its bid to become one of the region's top business addresses.

The next phase in the development of Birchwood Park, Bridgewater Place, was granted planning permission by Warrington Borough Council two weeks ago.

The 163,00 square metre development is the first part of five new speculative buildings to be built on the site.

Announcing the news, Birchwood Park Estates' managing director, Steve Widdowson, said: "The Warrington market lacks readily available, high profile, top specification and sizeable office buildings at present. Our analysis shows that the market needs satisfying now.

"We're confident that the interest is there already and because we provide a complete environment with top quality staff facilities as well as great motorway accessibility, we know we have more to offer than any other business park in the region to footloose occupiers.

"We have already attracted and retained 3,500 jobs for the area and in the past five years have transformed this park through massive investment to make it a vibrant, successful business address."

The development is something of a departure for Birchwood Park Estates, previously the company has built offices specifically for tenants, but it is the first one of a speculative nature.

The first two speculative buildings, 301 and 302, will stand at the new southern gateway to the park with the new sculpture, Connections, visible from Birchwood Way, the main link to the M6 and M62.