Facilities extended at Torfaen business park

Available space: Alex Macauley and Mamhilad Park Estate manager, Gemma Johnsey-Plumley, with some of the recently arrived shipping containers

Mamhilad Park Estate which has an enviable reputation as a perfect location for all types of businesses and organisations, continues to target new custom.

The estate, on the outskirts of Pontypool and which is home to some 150 occupiers, has seen on site employment numbers rise steadily over the past three years to now stand at 1,800.

Mamhilad Park Estate owners Johnsey Estates and users of the park are reaping the rewards of cutting edge, innovative thinking for ongoing use of the park’s unique variety of space.

The original caravan storage facilities, established utilising previously vacant land around the park, are now fully occupied. Due to high demand, a new space has now been developed which will offer space for additional caravans.

Self storage at the business park is another innovation which has proved a real success. All the existing space, undercover in one of the historic buildings, is now occupied. Therefore, another area for Mamhilad Self Storage phase two has now been cleared and developed at an alternative location on the park.

James Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of Johnsey Estates, said: “We’re very pleased with the success of the caravan storage and also our self storage offering. Initial research suggested that there was a pent up demand for both and this has been proved in practice.

“We’ve cleared and prepared a piece of underutilised land to the north west of the site for caravan storage and self storage. We’re bringing in the previously used containers at quite a rate. Almost as they arrive the units are being reserved by potential occupiers.”

A total of 40, of the 20ft x 8ft containers, located in the vacant, covered former industrial space on the park have now been taken which prompted the need to provide more of the containers.

Alex Macauley, who manages the self storage business on the estate, said: “Our self-storage proposition has proved a great success. The units cost a flat £100 a month to rent. The provision we offer is 24/7 access, CCTV site security and sensor LED lighting. The self-storage initiative fits in with our strategy of maximizing value from our property assets.”

“The original bank of self storage units are full and we have a list of clients, lined up to take the space provided by the latest units to arrive at Mamhilad Park Estate.”

Marty Jones, owner and managing director of MJ Events Security, was the first business to take space in the storage units.

Marty, who manages major events of gatherings throughout the UK said: “We use two units for the business. We were the first to sign up when the units first arrived on site. We use the storage to keep clothing and equipment that we used as part of the event s business. The fact that the storage units are here on site is a real bonus for us as we have quite a bit of stuff which we need to store.”

Mamhilad Park Estate set in outstandingly attractive countryside on the borders of Torfaen and Monmouthshire lies conveniently on the A4042 dual carriageway mid-way between Newport and Abergavenny. Junction 25 of the M4 is 10 miles to the south.

And it’s the location and its unrivalled communication links which has allowed the latest successful diversification at the park.