For many, Greenham Common was a symbol of the division of the 1980s. The RAF base, near Newbury, Berkshire, was where the Americans kept nuclear weapons for years during the Cold War. Its use for that purpose famously prompted thousands of women — and some children — to set up camp around the boundary of the site as they protested against nuclear warfare.
The Americans moved out in 1992 after the Cold War had ended. For the past 25 years Greenham Common has been run as a business park whose profits get distributed to good causes in the area. From conflict to charity, its reputation has been transformed.
Now the team behind it want to take the concept around the country by setting up a consultancy to advise local authorities on how they can make money from wasteland.
The idea to turn an old air base into a charitable venture came from Sir Peter Michael, a local businessman who was perhaps best known as one of the founders of Classic FM. He was the one who led the lobbying of the Ministry of Defence to sell the 1,000 acres of land that the base sat within to the newly established Greenham Trust. In March 1997 the deal was signed off.
The trust bought the entire airbase for £7 million financed through a loan from Barclays. Because the Russians could still demand access to the missile shelters at a moment’s notice to make sure nothing was being secreted away, they were not included in the deal.
The 850 or so acres of open land was immediately sold back to Newbury district council, now known as West Berkshire council. Michael and the other trustees were more interested in the old military buildings that spanned about 150 acres of brownfield land.
The plan was simple: refresh the buildings so that they could serve as workshops, warehouses and offices for local businesses. Some companies made their homes in the old barracks and ammunition stores. Another, which refurbishes Jaguars, recently moved out of the former fire station, the redevelopment of which is next on the trust’s list.
“The plan going forward is to continue developing the park,” Chris Boulton, the chief executive who has led the trust for the past eight years, said. Tongue in cheek, he describes his job as “making money in the morning, giving it away in the afternoon”.
Much work has already been done. While a lot of the old army buildings are still standing and occupied, the trust has spent millions tearing down old blocks and replacing them with new ones.
One example is a 30,000 sq ft office for Sovereign, a local housing association, which was built by the trust during lockdown on the plot of land where a US Army ballroom once stood.
“I joined shortly after Chris [in early 2016] and at the time three quarters of the income came from about 15 acres, and that was largely more modern stock,” Rupert Holtby, estates manager, said. “It was pretty easy to work out that if we wanted to maximise the asset we needed to do some development and start putting a bit more density on the site, which is what we’ve been doing.”
The trust owns about £117 million of properties, the vast majority of which — 85 per cent — are in the business park. It also owns buildings away from the park, including flats which it lets to local charities that look after vulnerable people.
Perhaps surprisingly, there are not too many charities based within the business park itself, which reflects a conscious effort from the management team.
“The park is very much a hub of commercial activity,” Boulton said. “We used to have a lot of charity occupiers here, and we still have a few, but they don’t generate the sort of money you need to give back to the broader community. If you get too much charity, that’s when you end up having to compromise on rents.”
Despite its charitable status, the trust does not just give handouts to its tenants. Last year it increased its rents by, on average, 13 per cent. It helps that most of its buildings are workshops and warehouses, of which there is a shortage across the country.
As it stands, Greenham Trust generates about £8 million of rental income each year, and that will only increase as it adds more buildings to its portfolio. Last year it returned £5 million of that to the local community, including grants to soup kitchens and scout groups.
That, Boulton said, represents a particularly good year. Typically, the figure will be closer to £3 million or £4 million, depending on various factors, including how much development it undertakes.
All in, there is about 850,000 sq ft of office and warehouse space on the park. Holtby estimates that there is potential for closer to 1.4 million sq ft.
There are, give or take, about 175 businesses at Greenham, employing 2,500 people. Most of them like that their rents in effect fund local charities and projects, some of which the tenants choose. “It’s a really nice icing on the cake to say to tenants that their rent goes back to a lot of their employees and the local community,” Holtby said.
To date the Greenham Trust has given away £68 million, all of which has come from rental income generated from a disused airbase. Among other things, that has funded a new chemotherapy and renal dialysis unit at West Berkshire Community Hospital and the refurbishment of 116 village halls.
Boulton and his team want to take the concept around the country. Given the renewed focus on companies’ social responsibilities, Boulton thinks corporates may also be interested in working with the trust. He has spoken with a couple of interested parties.
“I inherited a success story,” he said. “We’ve improved the ambience of the park, created more modern buildings and we will continue to grow the footprint. I think it’s also important to help others explore if they can do the same. If we can generate an income stream from that, then that’s good for us as well.”
