Johnston Quarter has invested £250,000 to connect its Norfolk business park to a nearby primary electricity substation, unlocking capacity for up to 360,000 sq ft of new industrial, warehousing and commercial space and illustrating how grid connection capacity, not planning permission alone, is increasingly the binding constraint on UK commercial development. The business park was granted outline planning permission for the expansion in April, and the completed expansion is expected to create 1,090 jobs and generate around £57.3 million in gross value added annually.

Johnston Quarter is a logistics and business park off the A11 at Snetterton, Norfolk, comprising 650,000 sq ft of built warehousing and home to occupiers including Fairfax & Favor, Kettle Foods and FedEx.

UK Power Networks is the London-headquartered distribution network operator for London, the South East and East of England, and delivered the Snetterton substation in partnership with Breckland Council.

Director Rob McIndoe said the connection addresses a long-standing constraint on development at Johnston Quarter, and has only been made possible by the earlier investment by Breckland Council. Planning consultants Lichfields estimate the expansion could also deliver around £850,000 in annual business rates for the district.

Lichfields advised on planning and business rates projections for the expansion.

This connection is a small-scale, practical version of a constraint now recognised as a structural risk to UK growth: an ADE Demand report has found that factories are abandoning grid connection plans in favour of gas because of slow connection timelines, undermining industrial electrification more broadly.

Business connection waits nationally range from two to twelve years depending on capacity required, making Johnston Quarter's outcome, a funded upgrade delivered ahead of, rather than blocking, planned expansion, the exception rather than the rule for sites without pre-existing council-backed infrastructure.

That distinction matters for how the sector reads this story: the underlying capacity came from a £3.5 million grant-funded substation Breckland Council delivered with UK Power Networks in 2023, meaning the £250,000 connection cost reflects years of prior public investment rather than a quick fix available to every developer facing similar constraints.

For the sector, sites that secured grid capacity ahead of demand are now positioned to capture commercial and industrial expansion that grid-constrained competitors cannot, turning past infrastructure investment into a present competitive advantage for local authorities and developers alike.

Source: Eastern Daily Press / edie / SMS