Near £1billion investment at former Honda site making progress

Swindon Borough Council Leader, Councillor Jim Robbins has reported that one of the largest brownfield developments in the UK is rapidly taking form near the A419.

Panattoni’s Head of Development for Southern England & London, James Watson and senior members of the team recently met with Swindon Borough Council Leader, Councillor Jim Robbins, to communicate an update on the progress of Panattoni Park, on the former Honda site.

The first of several major employment hubs will begin to emerge in the coming months as part of a £918m regeneration project, which is set to create up to 11,000 new jobs on site and an additional 4,000 indirect jobs in the supply chain over the next decade.

Upon completion, the 7.2m sq ft site, located near Junction 15 of the M4, will feature around 11 net-zero carbon buildings, offering advanced real estate space suitable for logistics, manufacturing, and data centre use.

The development will also include new parks, green spaces, additional landscaping, wetland habitats, and sustainable travel infrastructure for local residents. Energy-efficient features such as solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and heat recovery ventilation are being incorporated into the new units.

James Watson, Panattoni’s Head of Development for Southern England & London, commented: “We’re incredibly grateful for the dedication and support from Swindon Borough Council for this monumental regeneration project.

Our team has worked tirelessly to sustainably demolish the former Honda plant, and we’ll soon begin developing first-class logistics and manufacturing real estate here throughout 2025. Exciting times are ahead for both Swindon and the site, with more announcements expected in Q2 this year.”

Construction on the largest 915,000 sq ft unit is set to begin in the coming months, and Cllr Robbins was informed that there is significant interest from companies eager to invest in and relocate to Swindon.

Panattoni’s contractors began clearing the former car manufacturing site nearly a year ago and are now nearing the final stages of this process.

In that time, 98% of construction waste has been recycled, with 5,000 tonnes of steel re-used in the secondary or recycling steel market.

Additionally, 35,000 tonnes of metal have been recycled from the site, and 150,000m³ of aggregate has been harvested from concrete, old building foundations, and the former runway for use across the site.

Hundreds of staff, many of them local, have been involved in the demolition and clearance work, and Cllr Robbins was given a tour of the massive development to witness its scale firsthand.

After the visit, Cllr Robbins stated: “It’s hard to overestimate the positive impact that Panattoni Park will have on Swindon’s economy and local growth, regenerating one of the UK’s largest brownfield developments.

“It was impressive to see how much progress Panattoni has made in clearing the site in less than a year, paving the way for 7.2 million square feet of top-tier industrial, manufacturing, and data centre property. I was pleased to meet James and his team to learn about the next steps in the development.

This site is massive, and I’m excited that we’ll soon begin to see buildings rising, constructed with a strong focus on net-zero and sustainable building practices. This aligns perfectly with our goal of building a greener Swindon, and I’m pleased to see so much of the demolition material being recycled.

This is one of Panattoni’s largest projects globally, and the regeneration of the former car plant over the next decade will drive even more growth in our already thriving economy, creating thousands of jobs on-site and in the supply chain.

I’m eager to see how the interest from potential businesses translates into exciting announcements for Swindon in the near future.”