Next steps: Building a better future at Milton Park

At Milton Park, we’re always keen to learn what we’re doing well or where we could improve to make sure we provide the best possible place for you to work, relax and enjoy.

Here, we shine a light on some of the recent and upcoming improvements you’ll see across the Park in response to some of the feedback we’ve had.

There’s more to come with other projects we’re working on behind the scenes, so keep your eyes peeled!

Amenities at the Park

We’re currently reviewing the range and quality of our amenities with a key focus on improving food and drinks options across the Park – so far, we’ve:

• Established the new Hive Café at the Bee House – now the largest on the Park – providing hot and cold food and drink such as baguettes, salads, cakes, sausage rolls, quiches and more! Open 8.30am to 4pm every weekday
• Increased the number of traders and operating times of our street food market, Milton Feast, to two days a week. You can now enjoy our regular traders every Tuesday and Thursday from 11am to 2pm
• Introduced two new mobile coffee vans to cater for all your hot drink desires. You can now find Horsebox Coffee and Really Awesome Coffee under the canopy at the Park Centre daily from 8am to 12pm and 12-3pm respectively

We are also working on plans to reinvigorate the Park Centre canopy area and bring a range of new and exciting amenity providers on board. Watch this space for further updates.

Sustainable travel

Offering sustainable ways to travel continues to be a key priority for the Milton Park team. Recently, we’ve:

• Established new cycle and walking paths through Milton Park’s various surrounding green spaces
• Increased accessibility to sustainable transport through the KINTO Join car sharing scheme, on-site bike hire and electric vehicle (EV) charging points
• Expanded the Milton Park bus pass through our partnership with Thames Travel, providing frequent bus services between Didcot Parkway rail station, the Park and the whole of Didcot between 6am and 11.30pm. Services run seven days a week and Milton Park occupiers can buy an annual bus pass for just £20

Looking after our natural environment

At Milton Park we’ve been focusing our efforts to ensure we’re investing in a sustainable future and operating in an environmentally friendly way. We’ve recently:

• Increased the number of bee colonies, insect hotels, urban gardens and wildflower meadows across the Park, helping to improve biodiversity across our 43 acres of green open space
• Delivered more engagement workshops based around biodiversity, food sustainability and garden maintenance
• Improved our resource consumption and waste management, demonstrated through securing our ISO14001 certification
• Continued to facilitate discussion and best practice around sustainability with companies across the Park through our Greener Workplace Forum

Future Plans

At Milton Park, we’re keen to support companies based at the Park by providing high quality places to work:

• We’ll soon be releasing simplified version of our 2040 Vision report which outlines our aims for the future of Milton Park and how we plan to become an innovation district
• We’re currently working alongside the Vale of White Horse District Council to refresh our existing Local Development Order, a simplified planning arrangement, to fast track new developments at Milton Park, helping to create more jobs and career opportunities while enabling us to achieve our 2040 Vision
• Plans are in the pipeline to provide more large-scale laboratory, office and pavilion space across the Park. Construction will soon begin for our exciting new Nebula R&D scheme which recently gained planning approval

Communications and events

Following feedback received from our communications survey earlier this year, we are:

• Publicising the vacancies posted to the Milton Park Jobs Board more regularly, allowing companies across the Park to advertise their vacant job roles for free
• Holding more events at the Park, ranging from networking, social, educational and exercise sessions – keep an eye on our ‘Events’ webpage and social media channels for the latest updates
• Sharing more of what we’re up to across social media and advertising across the Park, keeping you updated with our news, events and any changes to the Park that may be of interest