Ransomwood Estates Celebrates!

Ransomwood Estates Ltd was formed on 23^rd April 1999 and this year we are celebrating 25 years in business which is a big achievement for our team.

In 1999 our small team of five began the start of a fresh business after the recent demerger from Mansfield Sand Company. The team then included Jane Bamford, Robert and Alison, Tony and Jim and our M.D. Michael Cannon.  Based in Ash House it was an exciting time planning the future of Ransom Wood Business Park. The 70 acre woodland park was a much smaller property business back then.  We had about a dozen small tenants and the NHS occupied the whole of Ransom Hall.

Over the next 8 or so years a rapid expansion of the park was planned to build it into a sustainable property business and in 2001 we made our first big investment and built The Willows, a 20,000 sq ft space. AMScott were our first tenant and took 10,000 sq ft. closely followed by BMI Healthcare who have been at Ransom Wood ever since!

In 2004 we were ready for the start of our next phase of development and Forever Green and Laurel House were both built. Opening in 2005 Forever Green was something new that we could offer to the park – a place to meet clients, have lunch and book meeting rooms. At the same time at the other side of the park we started building Laurel House. Notts Health Infomatics took a large amount of office space and remained on the park for 15 years.

In 2006 we were planning phase 3 which would become Birch House. Whilst this was built we had to house all the NHS staff that were over flowing from Ransom Hall so we erected 20 portcabins on the lawn in front of the building.  Construction of Birch House began in 2007 and this created our first BREEAM rated building. Once complete the NHS moved into the building and asked us to build them a second property and this became Hawthorn House.

The banking crisis hit in 2008 and lasted for some time and we lost our second largest tenant, AMScott, from the park. Over the next 10 years we focussed on our existing buildings, making them fit with the needs of the marketplace. These were the years where we changed the properties to split them into smaller suites to satisfy demand.

2009 saw the expansion of Forever Green and we constructed the mezzanine level and the Forest Suite. This meant we were now able to move into the wedding, party and expanded conference business.

By 2010 Ransom Hall had been empty since the NHS moved out and we were fortunate enough that West Notts college decided to take on the ground floor.  A major refurbishment programme followed and Ransom Hall became a cloud of dust for 5 weeks as we made a space that would work for the college.

We had plans for the park which included a children’s nursery and in 2013 we met Steve and Christine Doubtfire who we went on to develop Cedar House Nursery with.  This has become a real success on the park and is a great demonstration of the change in use of a property.  Steve and Christine retired a couple of years ago and Heena and Girish and their team now look after things.

The business had changed to a point now where we needed to start investing in technology across the park. We were bringing in new tenants that wanted to move in swiftly but the delays from BT weren’t helping our flexibility. So we invested in the leased line project and today the majority of our 100+ tenants are on our phone and internet systems which are managed in-house.

In 2014 we invested in our own solar farm.  Covering three acres the new Solar Farm has over 2,000 photo voltaic panels that are be able to provide up to 540 Kilo Watts (KW) of power. The offices, restaurant and nursery require an average of 50 – 200 KW when fully functioning; which means that the solar panel farm will be able to produce enough electricity to power all the businesses on the main park making us what is thought to be unique in the UK.

At the end of 2015 we had a major blow with the loss of West Notts College from Ransom Hall. West Notts were our second biggest tenant at the time.  We saw it as an opportunity to create something new and decided to turn the building into a business centre. We created a new welcoming reception area, ground floor kitchen and toilets and at the back we created the Elements Rooms conferencing. This new dimension to the business has been a real success.

After reaching an occupancy all time high in 2017 we had another couple of blows when we lost two of our largest tenants. From past experience we knew that there was little demand for big spaces so we started a major project to split up one floor of Hawthorn House in June 2018. It was the right decision as we let 3 out of 4 of the newly created suites really quickly. We used the same strategy on The Willows creating 3 new suites and again these were soon let.

2017 also saw the next step on our ongoing path to sustainability with the installation of our own borehole and water treatment plant which provides the park with all of its domestic water needs. Combined with the existing solar power generation, the park continues to work towards total self sufficiency.

2019 saw a big change for us all as the covid pandemic hit us globally.  Many businesses struggled to survive the challenges of the next two years.  We learned to work from home, have online team meetings and send endless e-mails!!

As we returned to a new normal at the end of 2020 the working day was completely different. Many businesses had chosen not to return to the office at all and worked remotely, the 9 to 5 didn’t exist anymore and we had to adapt to a new way of working. We weren’t sure what to expect at Ransom Wood.  Would there be a demand for office space? The answer is yes but companies use it in a different way.  Some like to have an office as it gives them the separation from home life.  Also, some of the larger businesses wanted to retain some space but on a smaller scale and we were able to satisfy that need. Face-to-face collaboration, onboarding, training and client meetings are still an essential part of office life.

2023 was the year the NHS officially left Birch House and we commenced a huge refurbishment project to create office suites in a variety of sizes as well as meeting rooms and a co-working space. This building has a very modern feel and the facilities are proving very popular.

So we celebrate 25 years in business this year and are sure there will be choppy waters to sail through from time to time in the future. Whatever happens along the way our dedicated team will continue to provide the commitment and service that defines our business. We are always looking for the next opportunities to grow and develop the park. Future plans may include solar power at Birch and Hawthorn and the expansion of the nursery.  The redevelopment  of our older buildings is always being looked at and who knows we may still one day build something new again.