Cardiff office expansion for Renewable Energy Systems16th August 2013

Renewable energy developers, RES Group, has increased its presence at Cardiff Gate International Business Park to accommodate its expanding team and support a number of current and recent planning applications for major projects in Wales.

The UK operation, Renewable Energy Systems Ltd (RES), which has its head office in Hertfordshire, specialises in onshore and offshore wind farms and large scale biomass facilities, as well as tidal and solar energy developments. In Wales, the company operates the Dyffryn Brodyn wind farm in Carmarthenshire, developed and built the Mynydd Clogau wind farm near Newtown in Powys and built the Rheidol wind farm in Ceredigion.

RES currently has four wind farm projects in the planning system in Wales with a total capacity of approximately 200MW. The company also has a pipeline of projects at an earlier stage of development.

The Cardiff Gate office was set up in 2006 with just one full time member of staff – this latest expansion takes that number into double figures, with further expansion planned before the end of the year. Richard Evans, who heads up the RES office in Wales, said;

“Our projects are very much long-term investments but can also be quite resource-intensive at various stages in their life cycle. Our approach involves ensuring that we have multi-disciplinary teams on the ground in the areas that we are developing projects and the Wales team has been extremely busy progressing a number of different schemes.”

RES now occupies the ground floor of Cardiff Gate’s Cedar House (circa 2,000 sq ft), on a lease agreed for seven years. Speaking on the expansion, Tony Fletcher from Cardiff Gate International Business Park, said;

“RES is another example of a major international business that has located at Cardiff Gate and then expanded in response to new business opportunities in Wales. The renewables sector is a key focus area for both Wales and UK governments and RES is a major player in that sector, with some significant projects in the pipeline.”

John James from Fletcher Morgan, commercial agents for Cardiff Gate International Business Park, added;

“The latest office move by RES has created an additional opportunity for new tenants at Cardiff Gate, but we also have a number of other flexible space options available. A recent planning consent has also opened up some larger-scale development opportunities within the park that could be of interest to larger occupiers.”

Cardiff Gate International Business Park is a 100-acre office development located on junction 30 of the M4. Other tenants at the park include Scottish & Southern Energy, Coca-Cola, Lloyds Banking Group and Castleoak. Park owner Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd currently has consent for a further 250,000 sq ft of ‘design and build’ space on the site, as well as a new ‘Retail Pod’, offering units from 1,200 sq ft.