A NEW future is opening for the former Eurotunnel exhibition centre site at Cheriton, which is set to become the first and last business park in England.

The 10-acre site, overlooking the Tunnel entrance, will be acquired and developed by Ashford-based GSE Group as the Cheriton Business Park in a £2m deal.

GSE's chief executive Darrell Healey reckons its location is second to none and is a natural choice for companies doing business in Britain and North West Europe.

He said: "You drive out of the Tunnel and you're at the business park. It's a classic example of a location selling itself. We were delighted to have the opportunity to acquire the site and we are already lining up tenants successfully.

"This is a long term project for us and after the refurbishment and letting of the existing exhibition centre building we will be moving on to design and build a range of individual office developments."

The Cheriton Business Park will eventually provide around 200,000 square feet of high quality office space. The first tenant in the refurbished former Eurotunnel building will be the Immigration Service, which is establishing a new administrative centre there.

This is the second recent deal for the GSE Group with Eurotunnel. Last year it bought the 130-acre site at Waterbrook Farm, Ashford from the company.

Richard Lavender, Eurotunnel's Director of Property Services, said: "This is a keynote site in a prime position and we wanted to be sure that redevelopment would be of high quality. We have worked successfully with GSE in the past and believe that their plans are both imaginative and practical."