Guest blogger, Paul Lowndes, Programme Director at This is Gravity, the UK’s first strategic commercial smart campus, focused on attracting businesses in clean growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, battery production, and smart technology, talks about the work being done by the company, and how it benefits the South West economy.
Gravity Site Update
Work continues to progress well on the Gravity site, with the latest update being that:
- Works to install ducting for National Grid (NGED) cables, and pipework for Wales & West Gas diversion in Woolavington Road is complete.
- Works are at an advanced stage on the NGED substation.
- Ground works are at an advanced stage on the National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) substation platform.
- Over 4,000 Tonnes of steel has been erected on Agratas Building 1.
- Works on the replacement of The 37 Club and Village Enhancement scheme (traffic calming and a foot/cycle) path joining Puriton and Woolavington villages, will commence in Q1 2026.
It’s important work, with the site set to create thousands of new, permanent, high-value “green” jobs as well as supply-chain jobs.
Above left: Aerial view of This is Gravity site in 2023 before Agratas purchased a 308-acre plot for construction of Europe’s largest gigafactory development (credit: This is Gravity). Above right: Steel framework for Agratas Building 1, a 100-metre long central utilities building that will host the facility’s management system (credit: Agratas).
Regional and National Impact
In the context of the Gravity site, its use of green technology aims to minimise pollution, conserve natural resources, and promote sustainability across the life of the project.
This includes:
- Local skills and business charters and outreach programmes in the community and beyond.
- Brownfield rehabilitation and a commitment to strategic landscaping.
- Design and construction of facilities using sustainable materials, energy, water, and waste management across the lifecycle of the building, including demolition.
- Green energy, PV, wind turbine, bio digester, and battery storage.
- A private water solutions package that uses grey water from sewage treatment and harvested rainwater, and abstraction water, all to mitigate against the “single use” of potable water.
- Rail and bus transport, vehicle sharing, walking, and cycling.
- Waste management whereby nothing goes to landfill. In the period up to September 2023, Gravity avoided the discharge of 17 Million tonnes of carbon discharge through adopting the 4’R’s – Recover, Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse.
Data centres are an explicitly permitted and anticipated component of Gravity’s employment land mix under the Local Development Order (LDO). They are treated as part of the advanced manufacturing and supporting infrastructure ecosystem – contributing to the campus’s clean-growth, digital, and smart-industry objectives.
A specific opportunity around delivery of the Government’s AI action plan is currently being explored by Somerset Council and its partners. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has invited applications from the areas interested in hosting AI Growth Zones. The Council and the Gravity site are well positioned to offer a unique opportunity that meets the key criteria set up by the government, specifically around site characteristics, availability of key infrastructure and clear planning status. Therefore, Gravity and the Council are actively considering this opportunity as one that could be worth progressing. The process will be extremely competitive nationally with only few sites to be approved in the first wave.
We believe that the Gravity site can be a catalyst for sustainable growth in the greater South West and particularly along the Bristol-Exeter corridor.
Local First Approach
During the site-preparation (brownfield rehabilitation, import of stone from the National Grid “T-Pylon” project, demolition of in-ground structures and preparation of the formation) to receive the Agratas piling mat, Gravity engaged almost exclusively with local contractors and consultants, and we have the first three postcode digits of every worker who attended the site.
The local area is ripe with demolition and groundworks contractors, quarries, and haulage companies
The nature of the Civil and Building Construction Projects on the (prepared) site is quite different from a scale and complexity standpoint, and we would envisage National Tier 1 Contractors (such as Sir Robert McAlpine on Agratas building 1) will lead on these projects. However, there will be opportunities for local contractors to subcontract on these projects. Agratas and Sir Robert McAlpine are holding regular “meet the buyer” events.
Agratas and their Contractors are also subject to the local skills and business charters.
Above left: This green bridge has been delivered as part of Enterprise Way (credit: This is Gravity). Above right: National Grid T-pylon to the East of This is Gravity (credit: This is Gravity).
Further Opportunities
All construction activities on the site are subject to the local skills and business charters. For Agratas and Gravity projects, follow the respective websites and attend the meet the buyer events to find out how your business could capitalise on the opportunities available. Due to the size and complexity of projects, National Tier 1 Contractors will be the Principal Contractors; so there should be significant sub-contractor opportunities.
Wider businesses are also subject to local skills and business charters; everything from photocopiers/scanners, all types of facilities management, supply of Food & Beverage for example, and of course, the local workforce will require everything from estate agents, travel agents, lawyers, accountants etc.
The Next Generation
Gravity promises to be a real game-changer when it comes to the prospects of young people in the region and we are working closely with local education providers, such as Bridgwater and Taunton College among others, to provide new pathways to work. The proximity to adjacent villages and towns provides high value job opportunities. There’s access to public spaces and recreation facilities (the 37, gym and crèche), and we undertake outreach and involvement with neighbourhood schools, and STEM projects supporting other local schools, local skills and business charters (all of the contractors and their labour employed for the remediation and site preparation were local).
Bounce Forward, our partner charity, delivers psychological fitness programmes to improve resilience in young people involving nearly 2,000 schools, 14,000 parents and over 800,000 young people.
Get Involved
Together with Agratas, This is Gravity is accelerating the UK’s shift towards a zero-carbon economy, placing Somerset at the centre of the clean growth revolution and benefitting local villages, the county and wider region.
Through the creation of up to 7,500 new jobs, we want to secure a legacy of opportunities for people who wish to live and work locally and enjoy the unique Somerset countryside.
Find out more by exploring the pages and links below, subscribing to our newsletter and visiting the Agratas website.
To ensure that your business is on This is Gravity’s supply chain register, fill in our updated registration form.
