MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

	Introduction
Risk & Investment	Wealth & Power	People & Communities
Sustainability & Relationships	Industrial Estates or Work Parks	Uniformity or Diversity

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1. INTRODUCTION

Industrial estates are so common place as to merit barely a second glance. As we pass by in car or train, the functional uniformity produces a flash of recognition - at most a certain curiosity as to what is going on behind the shuttered doors - and then they are behind us and gone from mind.

And yet, we should look at them more carefully because they represent the hopes of the enterprise culture. They are the outward sign of the cut and thrust of small business, seeking to establish a toehold in the market place from which to expand and increase profitability - or die. Our prosperity as a nation depends on the ability to produce the energy and initiative that creates new products, new jobs and that keeps the economy growing - or so current economic orthodoxy would have us believe.

That orthodoxy also emphasises the power of money to change lives: for, without money, no industrial estate could exist. The process by which they come into being is multi-layered. At each stage, however, the ability to attract finance is critical. A failure to find backers means the project stalls; it is shelved and those who have already invested in it lose out.

Developers see the potential in a piece of land, the potential to make a return on the investment that will be required to purchase it. Almost certainly, they will need to persuade private corporations or individuals to back them. The response will depend in large measure on the developers' track record. Have they produced similar returns before? For every success, how many failures do they notch up? Can we predict how long our money will be tied up?

Once the piece of land has been bought from its original owner there is immense pressure to sell it on to a building consortium that will actually create the business park. Our developer will have links with such organisations but will still have to "sell" this particular project in relation to other claims on any development moneys the organisation may be able to raise. To do that will, once again, depend on being able to persuade financiers that the project will not only be successful in its own terms but, more crucially, will produce a reasonable return.

Perceptions of the state of the economy, the relative merits of the proposed site in terms of access to transport networks, suppliers and distributors, what grants might be available, what planning obstacles might have to be overcome, etc., etc. will all play their part in whether backing is forthcoming, i.e. what chance the venture has of being profitable.

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