ParklifeSustainability

Sustainability

Focussing on Sustainability

At Grovemere, we care about sustainability and the experience your business and employees have on Lancaster Way Business Park, both now and in the future. Set in 175 acres, the Park provides a positive working environment for a diverse range of businesses.

Sustainable initiatives are central to the Park’s management with planting trees and shrubs, energy efficiency and recycling top priorities. A healthy work-life balance is crucial for the people in your business so green spaces are designed to promote wellbeing. While we strive to provide an excellent experience for your business right now, we’re always looking at innovative ways to make Lancaster Way a sustainable business park for years to come.

Building for the future: Sustainable Procurement Plan

As a local family-owned business, we do our utmost to have a positive impact on our communities and the environment. At Grovemere our aim is to build in the most sustainable way possible and ensure that everyone we work with adopts similarly good practice. We have developed a Sustainable Procurement Plan outlining how we look to influence procurement choices and safeguard natural resources.

Find out more about Design and Build on Lancaster Way Business Park

Sustainability and Improving energy efficiency

A key part of our sustainability drive is to ensure that Lancaster Way Business Park becomes more energy efficient. If your business is on the Park, you will notice some of the things we do.

  • Solar power: As a business committed to operating a sustainable business park, we want to become greener as a whole. There are solar panels on various buildings across the Park and we’re encouraging other businesses to install them so that they can generate their own renewable energy.
  • Biomass Boilers: The boiler in our shared office space on Lancaster Way is completely run on wood pellets, which are a renewable energy source.
  • Sustainable water collection: The water used for watering plants is collected from our four onsite retention lagoons. When the water level is high, we pump the water out into our bowser which we then use to water the newly planted landscaping. At Grovemere, we’re always looking for innovative methods to benefit the environment.
  • Recycling resources: Recycling is top of our sustainability to-do list. We recycle collected rubbish and cuttings from hedges and trees, and all products in the Apex Coffee House are compostable or recyclable.

Supporting the switch to electric

As a business park striving to be sustainable, we’re keen to support the switch to electric power. Your business and employees may already use electric vehicles.

  • Electric vehicle (EV) chargers: EV car charging points are available onsite at the Apex Cafe and at Grovemere’s office. Many other businesses on Lancaster Way have also started adding them to their premises.
  • Electric machinery: We are swapping all mowers and hedge trimmers used by the maintenance team for electric machinery and in the long-term we will put solar panels on the workshop roof.
  • Electric cars: At Grovemere, we like to practice what we preach. All our directors drive either hybrid or electric cars.

Speak to the Grovemere team if you would like to know more. Contact us

Ecology and Wildlife

As a sustainable business park operator, we don’t just think of now but always plan for the future. We manage the Park, including the ecology and wildlife, in a highly sustainable way. The Park provides a unique setting in a beautifully landscaped environment which you and your team can enjoy.

  • Growing for the future: We’ve planted 47,356 indigenous trees, shrubs and hedges over the last 10 years. The majority of planting has been completed but a small percentage is yet to be done and will coincide with development work being undertaken.
  • Park wildlife: A lot of the buildings on the Park have boxes for bats and hedgehogs to help conserve these vulnerable species. The lagoon has 10 acres of planting around it which attracts nesting birds.
  • Grow with Grovemere: We’ve planted 15 acres of woodland on land close to Lancaster Way and are planning some wildflower sections on the Park. Your business can grow with Grovemere with the flexibility to move forward and develop your property over time. Find out more about Design and Build on Lancaster Way Business Park.

Park life and the benefit of working in green spaces

Over 2,000 people work on Lancaster Way Business Park. The creation of a healthy work-life balance is a top priority for businesses as it can impact staff satisfaction and performance. Creating a space for wellbeing is central to our design of the 175-acre site.

  • Green spaces to boost wellbeing: People benefit from being with nature. There are outside areas on the Park where your team can unplug and take a break. All roads have trees and shrubs alongside and as we expand, this green space will increase sustainably.
  • Trim Trail: Encouraging an active lifestyle has huge benefits for wellbeing. Our 1.16 mile Trim Trail enables employees to walk, run, picnic and relax, and is used by a large number of people each day.
  • Convenient onsite amenities and location: The Park has a children’s nursery, a coffee shop and a gym. In 2022 we will host our second duathlon event with 250 entries awarded. We’ve invested in amenities to give everything you need onsite. Lancaster Way Business Park offers easy access to Ely and also Cambridge which has extensive leisure facilities your team can enjoy outside of work.

The Park is bike friendly with a network of cycle paths. We actively promote cycling to work and provide five pool bikes onsite through our bike hire scheme. Grovemere subsidises the Ely Zipper bus, which services the park throughout the working day. There are two bus stops on Lancaster Way for the Stagecoach 9 and 39 services.

A positive environment for businesses and employees

Lancaster Way is more than just a business park. It’s a unique space where you and your team can enjoy the benefits of working in a stunning green landscape and your business can grow flexibly.

We prioritise sustainability to ensure that the Park can be a positive environment, now and in the future. Lancaster Way’s Phase II land is part of the wider Cambridge Compass Enterprise Zone, which was developed to help spread the economic wealth created within the Cambridge Cluster. The Enterprise Zone provides an exceptional opportunity for businesses to locate within easy reach of Cambridge and access a highly skilled local workforce and excellent transport links to London Stansted, London and beyond.

The Grovemere management team are onsite to support your business whether you need advice on solar panels, electric charging points, hydrogen fuel cells or on how to extend your premises.

Get in touch to find out more about sustainability and how we can help.