New occupiers are getting ready to move onto a major business park after work to extend the site was completed.
A further 60 acres of land has been added to the west side of i54 South Staffordshire, which is on the county border with Wolverhampton.
The scheme – which is being delivered by Staffordshire County Council, the City of Wolverhampton Council and South Staffordshire Council with support from Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the Black Country and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire – will create more than 1,000 new jobs.
The current i54 business park is occupied by multi-national businesses including Jaguar Land Rover, Moog, ISP and Eurofins.
Following investment of more than £1 billion, it has a workforce of around 2,700 people, with half of the jobs held by people living within a 10-mile radius.
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The extension includes 850,000 sq ft of fully serviced factory platforms ready for new occupiers to build units on for advanced manufacturing, technology, training and innovation.
The major works included the construction of a one kilometre road linking the main i54 site to the new extension, new footpaths and cycleways, structured landscaping to create the manufacturing bases, diverting and improving the public bridleway, drainage works, the planting of 10,000 trees and the development of a further access road.
Staffordshire County Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for economy and skills Philip White said: "The i54 South Staffordshire western extension has been a significant project for the county council and our partners. It's fantastic that it is now complete with the first development set to get underway soon and others to follow in the coming months."
City of Wolverhampton Council leader Ian Brookfield said: "i54 plays a major part in the lives of thousands of people in Wolverhampton and south Staffordshire and our joint investment at i54 has secured hundreds of millions of pounds of investment and has brought thousands of jobs to the area.
"We have received a lot of interest in the extension from potential occupiers and we expect to be making some major announcements in the coming months on who will be joining the list of prestigious occupiers.
"We are determined to build on the success of what is already one of the UK's premier advanced manufacturing business parks."
South Staffordshire Council leader Roger Lees said: "We're delighted to have reached this major milestone in the project which will mean more than 1,000 employees will soon be making i54 western extension their new work location, with recruitment aimed at local residents, including a mix of skilled, semi-skilled, graduate and apprenticeship roles – and the expectation of more to follow in future years."
The western extension scheme includes a plan to boost employment skills, training and recruitment to local people with a £150,000 contribution – helping them to access the newly-generated jobs.
The partners have also agreed a further £500,000 to support and promote sustainable travel activities, and £50,000 has been granted to Pendeford Hall Nature Reserve to help continue and develop its education, health and wellbeing and personal and social skills development outdoor activities for local communities.
