St Francis Group together with its development partner iSec has today announced that it has completed and handed over a new built to suit Global Technology Centre for GKN Aerospace at its Horizon-38 scheme at Filton in North Bristol.

The state-of-the-art facility which comprises of a highly bespoke, built to suit facility extending to 110,000 sq. ft including 40,000 sq. ft of Grade A office accommodation has been pre-let to GKN Aerospace with funding provided by BP Pension Fund. Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd was the contractor, completing construction and handing over this week despite exceptional circumstances at this difficult time.

Talking about the project Gareth Williams, Development Director at St Francis Group said: “When we were presented in 2017 with GKN Aerospace’s vision for a network of regional technology centres across the globe it was clear that this could be one of our more exciting development projects

The Global Technology Centre will enable GKN Aerospace to create a world-leading facility for research particularly in the areas of wing configuration and construction, meaning intellectual property, skills and knowledge is retained in the UK.

Also commenting, Jane Leedham, Estates Director at GKN Aerospace said: “For such a high-profile project with a continually evolving brief, it was essential that we found a development partner with a delivery team that was both flexible and extremely capable. In return for a long-term commitment from GKN Aerospace, we were able to secure a bespoke research and development facility to rival all others.”

GKN Aerospace is the world’s leading multi-technology tier 1 aerospace supplier with over 50 manufacturing locations in 15 countries, serving more than 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers.