TWO FRIARGATE, Coventry’s premier Grade A office building, sits at the heart of the Coventry automotive and advanced manufacturing sector. Through a Sector Spotlight series, we’ll focus on exactly what makes the city’s economy tick and how occupiers at TWO FRIARGATE can plug in to an advanced ecosystem.
With specialisms stretching from energy, transport and mobility to life sciences and digital, Coventry – and its wider sub-region – is at the heart of a dynamic and growing economy.
A focus on Coventry’s automotive and advanced manufacturing sector makes up the first in our series of Sector Spotlights.
AUTOMOTIVE HERITAGE
Coventry has a proud heritage as a manufacturing city. The historic home of the UK’s automotive industry and the birthplace of the bicycle, the city has a strong pedigree in innovation and manufacturing.
Coventry is home to the UK’s biggest car maker, Jaguar Land Rover, which manufactured over 200,000 cars in 2022 alone. Based in Whitley, the manufacturer is rapidly transitioning into the luxury electric vehicle market and already produces four of the top 10 most popular cars for export.
Other established brands located across the Coventry automotive hub include Lotus, LEVC, and Aston Martin Lagonda.
AN ESTABLISHED HUB
Part of the wider West Midlands ecosystem, the region employs 46,500 people in the automotive sector. In total, this contributes £3.2bn in gross value added (GVA) per year to the UK economy.
The West Midlands is home to 430 specialist automotive firms and a third of all cars produced in the UK are built in the West Midlands, as well as one in four engines and 40% of UK automotive exports.
As well as an established skills base and supply chain, the Coventry automotive sector benefits from a location in the heart of the country. This offers excellent connectivity for businesses via road, rail, or air. Around 90% of the country is within a four-hour travel time. TWO FRIARGATE itself sits directly adjacent to Coventry Railway Station, and exceptional transport links.
The region also benefits from four major rail freight terminals – Birmingham Freightliner, BIFT, Hams Hall, and DIRFT – with daily services to the UK’s largest ports. East Midlands Airport – just a short distance from Coventry – is also the UK’s busiest pure cargo airport, handling over 328,000 tonnes of cargo each year.
DEFINING THE FUTURE
The proposed West Midlands Gigafactory, located at Coventry Airport, is set to become the UK’s leading hub for battery manufacturing, research and development. The market for electric vehicles is set to be worth up to £10bn, with Coventry leading the way within the UK.
This builds on the established UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry and world-leading innovation at the National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick – an exciting public-private-academic partnership.
Coventry and Warwickshire are also home to the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), along with two exceptional universities – the University of Warwick and Coventry University.
TWO FRIARGATE is a unique opportunity to capitalise on Coventry’s automotive sector and growing market across electric vehicles and battery technology. With Grade A office space available from 5,000-133,228 sq ft, your business could be part of Coventry’s exciting ecosystem.
To find out more about TWO FRIARGATE’s new Coventry offices, and how being at the centre of Coventry’s automotive and advanced manufacturing sector can benefit you, contact Cushman & Wakefield – Scott Rutherford on 07824 436439 or email scott.rutherford@cushwake.com, or David Rigby on 07730 735889 or email david.rigby@cushwake.com.
