From 1939 until its closure in 1945 the site at Birchwood near Warrington was developed and used by the Royal Ordnance Filling Factory as part of its 1300 acre site where shells and bombs were filled and assembled. During the period 1946 until 1961 part of the site was used by the Admiralty as main storage depot for the north of England. The balance of the site was developed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) for research and development in the nuclear energy industry.

In 1998 MEPC Birchwood Park Estates Limited acquired an area of some 65 acres (26.3 hectares) from UKAEA. In the following year a further 41.3 acres (16.7 hectares) of adjoining land was purchased from AEA Technology Ltd and the development programme commenced that continues today to create the North West’s leading business park.