Post by Dave on Jan 2, 2013 16:51:06 GMT
If I had a pound for every time I have heard someone say we need to attract new companies to the Bay to turn its fortunes around, then I would be a rich man today. On the face if it, it all seems so simple and yet despite all the talk, no one has ever been able to make it happen.
If anything more of those types of jobs have been lost in the Bay and the main reason so many of the Bays residents, leave it each morning to go to work in places like Exeter, Newton Abbot and Heathfield. Access to the Bay has always been a big problem and while the new road will improve things, I can’t see it making any real difference as far as attracting new companies into the Bay is concerned.
Starting up along side the M5 is what so many companies seem to be doing and the reason why Exeter and places like Bridgwater are seeing rapid growth, while Torbay gets left behind and the number and types of job just keep on diminishing. While there will always be some other jobs other than those in the tourism industry, the days are long gone when there were companies here who employed a good number of the Bays residents.
One of the biggest companies that were lost in paignton started life of as STC and I’m sure there are some TFF members who once worked there or later when it was taken over by Nortel and then Bookhams. It was in the 1960s that Standard Telephones and Cables built the plant that was taken over, in the 1980s by ITT, and in the 1990s by Nortel, which later changed its name to Nortel Networks.
The site had 17 buildings and outbuildings, almost 300,000 sq ft of office and industrial space, more than 1,000 car parking spaces and was at one time home to 5,000 jobs as Nortel expanded. The mass expansion of Nortel happened in the second half of the 90’s and it was in 1997 they built what was known as Nortel House at the very far end of Long Road. But they only used the building for two years and it was shortly after this that 4000 of the 5000 jobs were lost at the plant.
Bookhams took over in 2002 and in 2004 got rid of another 600 jobs and a further 150 in December 2005. They sold the site in 2006 and by then there were just 100 still working at the plant. They did stay in Paignton and moved into the new Westfield Business Park beyond what is now South Devon College. In 2009 it was announced Bookham was to merge with the American company Avanex. Together they are now known as Oclaro.The company, with its headquarters in California, specialises in laser components for the telecommunications, medical, printing, health and electronics industries and employs around 2,500 staff worldwide with 125 staff in Paignton in 2010. I do not know how many people are working there in 2013.
Nortel sold Nortel House in 2004 to South Devon College who had sold their site in Torquay for a housing development. When they took it over the building contained laboratories and offices and they set about converting it to provide classrooms, offices, studios, restaurants, workshops and training kitchens. The vast building also houses two receptions. A few years ago the college build a brand new building very close to the main one (see pictures)
The old Nortel/ Bookham site off Long Road was later acquired by Devonshire Park Limited who said at the time it plans an 'exciting and innovative' mixed use commercial development for the site. The bulldozers moved in at the start of August 2011 and cleared a good part of the site. But work soon stopped and the site has been left in a rather disgraceful state and I have heard nothing about when any further work will take place there.
The problem is there are brand new units further down the estate that were built over three years ago and are still empty, if they can’t be filled, what chance would Devonshire Park Limited have of filling any new ones they built. There does seem to be one part of the old site still in use at the end closest to South Devon Colledge ( see Pictures)
The entrance to long Road on the other side of the road from the site has seen a new Hotel and Beefeater Grill built so there has been some good developments taking place nearby. Right beside the new Beefeater, work is taking place on building what looks like a new factory unit; this is being built on the site of a factory that burnt to the ground over ten years ago now.
Back onto the main road and head back towards Paignton and the first thing you will notice is the old garden centre has gone, I’m sure you will remember the place with its canvas roofs and I for one used to go there many times to buy tropical fish in the days I used to keep them. This large site is going to be yet another new housing estate, while we do need new houses to be built, one does wonder where the people who move into them, are going to find any work.
Going back to the old STC day who remembers the social club that was on the site? I have been told many stories by Paignton people who would go there on a Saturday night as they had live entertainment and drinks were cheap. Anyone have a party there or a wedding reception? We must not forget also that STC had football pitches close to the site and had teams in the South Devon League. Sadly those pitches have long gone and just a distant memory. Below is a link to a programme in our programmes room
torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?board=7090&action=display&thread=4963
Yes times have changed in the Bay over the years and just what have we got left? There will always be a good number of small companies that will be found on the small industrial estates scattered around the Bay, but they will never employ the sort of numbers Nortel once did.
One thing the new road will do is make it easier for our visitors to get into the Bay, I have for a long time now felt we just need to accept where we are now and try and concentrate on what we do have to offer. We have a wonderful beautiful location and need to sell it more and build more tourist type attractions so Torbay once again becomes a place everyone wants to come too. We need to learn how to make people more welcome here and not fleece them off like we have been guilty of so much in the past.
The jobs that can be created are never going to be high paid jobs I’m afraid, but when you look at the cost of having to travel say to Exeter everyday to work, they might not seem so low paid after all. We have land on the outskirts of the Bay where we could build a theme park, a super sports stadium that could be used for concerts etc (not the rec site lol) Time for some real forward thinking and not pipe dreams, look at what we have got and get the most out of it.
The new Hotel etc on the entrance to Long Road.
The new building going up next door
How the site once looked
How the site looks today
The part still in use
The old Nortel House from above now SDC
The front of the building
The recent new building added by SDC
If anything more of those types of jobs have been lost in the Bay and the main reason so many of the Bays residents, leave it each morning to go to work in places like Exeter, Newton Abbot and Heathfield. Access to the Bay has always been a big problem and while the new road will improve things, I can’t see it making any real difference as far as attracting new companies into the Bay is concerned.
Starting up along side the M5 is what so many companies seem to be doing and the reason why Exeter and places like Bridgwater are seeing rapid growth, while Torbay gets left behind and the number and types of job just keep on diminishing. While there will always be some other jobs other than those in the tourism industry, the days are long gone when there were companies here who employed a good number of the Bays residents.
One of the biggest companies that were lost in paignton started life of as STC and I’m sure there are some TFF members who once worked there or later when it was taken over by Nortel and then Bookhams. It was in the 1960s that Standard Telephones and Cables built the plant that was taken over, in the 1980s by ITT, and in the 1990s by Nortel, which later changed its name to Nortel Networks.
The site had 17 buildings and outbuildings, almost 300,000 sq ft of office and industrial space, more than 1,000 car parking spaces and was at one time home to 5,000 jobs as Nortel expanded. The mass expansion of Nortel happened in the second half of the 90’s and it was in 1997 they built what was known as Nortel House at the very far end of Long Road. But they only used the building for two years and it was shortly after this that 4000 of the 5000 jobs were lost at the plant.
Bookhams took over in 2002 and in 2004 got rid of another 600 jobs and a further 150 in December 2005. They sold the site in 2006 and by then there were just 100 still working at the plant. They did stay in Paignton and moved into the new Westfield Business Park beyond what is now South Devon College. In 2009 it was announced Bookham was to merge with the American company Avanex. Together they are now known as Oclaro.The company, with its headquarters in California, specialises in laser components for the telecommunications, medical, printing, health and electronics industries and employs around 2,500 staff worldwide with 125 staff in Paignton in 2010. I do not know how many people are working there in 2013.
Nortel sold Nortel House in 2004 to South Devon College who had sold their site in Torquay for a housing development. When they took it over the building contained laboratories and offices and they set about converting it to provide classrooms, offices, studios, restaurants, workshops and training kitchens. The vast building also houses two receptions. A few years ago the college build a brand new building very close to the main one (see pictures)
The old Nortel/ Bookham site off Long Road was later acquired by Devonshire Park Limited who said at the time it plans an 'exciting and innovative' mixed use commercial development for the site. The bulldozers moved in at the start of August 2011 and cleared a good part of the site. But work soon stopped and the site has been left in a rather disgraceful state and I have heard nothing about when any further work will take place there.
The problem is there are brand new units further down the estate that were built over three years ago and are still empty, if they can’t be filled, what chance would Devonshire Park Limited have of filling any new ones they built. There does seem to be one part of the old site still in use at the end closest to South Devon Colledge ( see Pictures)
The entrance to long Road on the other side of the road from the site has seen a new Hotel and Beefeater Grill built so there has been some good developments taking place nearby. Right beside the new Beefeater, work is taking place on building what looks like a new factory unit; this is being built on the site of a factory that burnt to the ground over ten years ago now.
Back onto the main road and head back towards Paignton and the first thing you will notice is the old garden centre has gone, I’m sure you will remember the place with its canvas roofs and I for one used to go there many times to buy tropical fish in the days I used to keep them. This large site is going to be yet another new housing estate, while we do need new houses to be built, one does wonder where the people who move into them, are going to find any work.
Going back to the old STC day who remembers the social club that was on the site? I have been told many stories by Paignton people who would go there on a Saturday night as they had live entertainment and drinks were cheap. Anyone have a party there or a wedding reception? We must not forget also that STC had football pitches close to the site and had teams in the South Devon League. Sadly those pitches have long gone and just a distant memory. Below is a link to a programme in our programmes room
torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?board=7090&action=display&thread=4963
Yes times have changed in the Bay over the years and just what have we got left? There will always be a good number of small companies that will be found on the small industrial estates scattered around the Bay, but they will never employ the sort of numbers Nortel once did.
One thing the new road will do is make it easier for our visitors to get into the Bay, I have for a long time now felt we just need to accept where we are now and try and concentrate on what we do have to offer. We have a wonderful beautiful location and need to sell it more and build more tourist type attractions so Torbay once again becomes a place everyone wants to come too. We need to learn how to make people more welcome here and not fleece them off like we have been guilty of so much in the past.
The jobs that can be created are never going to be high paid jobs I’m afraid, but when you look at the cost of having to travel say to Exeter everyday to work, they might not seem so low paid after all. We have land on the outskirts of the Bay where we could build a theme park, a super sports stadium that could be used for concerts etc (not the rec site lol) Time for some real forward thinking and not pipe dreams, look at what we have got and get the most out of it.
The new Hotel etc on the entrance to Long Road.
The new building going up next door
How the site once looked
How the site looks today
The part still in use
The old Nortel House from above now SDC
The front of the building
The recent new building added by SDC