Sale agreed on 12,000 sq ft unit at Park 32 in Pontefract

Gregory Property Group has sold a 12,000 sq ft new build manufacturing unit at Park 32 in Pontefract to Specialist Tooling Technologies Ltd for £1.3 million.

Park 32 is a new, 150,000 sq ft industrial development close to Junction 32 of the M62 motorway. The speculative development comprises four purpose-built units ranging from 12,000 sq ft up to 82,500 sq ft to suit a variety of occupiers for distribution, manufacturing and storage. Marshall Construction built the £15m development, just opposite Pontefract Racecourse, ahead of schedule and Gregory has received strong interest in the remaining units.

Specialist Tooling Technologies is an established company that provides engineering services ranging from special purpose machines and equipment or CNC machining to gauges and measuring equipment. It is to relocate from smaller rented premises is Castleford to enable enterprise expansion.

Craig Wigglesworth, Director at Specialist Tooling Technologies, said, “having started our business in a much smaller, rented unit in Castleford, we are really pleased at how quickly our business has grown and that we are now in position to be able to invest in our own long-term premises at Park 32.

“This new unit will double the area that we currently have and will enable us to invest in further machinery including a Haas VF-9 VMC, additional Wire EDM machines, plus Water and Laser cutting machinery. This additional investment will complement our current plant and increase our ability to respond quickly to our customers’ needs. The additional space also enables us to build larger Special Purpose Machinery for Automotive, Aerosol, Aerospace, Food and other industry sectors.

“We have a talented workforce with a high technical ability. Our apprenticeship scheme has been very successful, producing some exceptional engineers. It is our intention to recruit more apprentices and further develop the talent within our company.”

Andrew Foggitt of Gregory Property Group said, “We are delighted to agree this sale with Specialist Tooling Technologies which exactly matches the profile of occupiers we were hoping to attract. Park 32 delivers against a current shortage of new, purpose-built commercial space within the M62 corridor that is available with the option for occupiers to buy and realise investment value in their premises. We have received strong interest in the remaining units from a range of local businesses.”

The Leeds offices of property consultants Avison Young and Carter Towler have been appointed to market the scheme.

Rob Oliver, Director at Avison Young said, “We are delighted to have completed the sale of the first unit at Park 32. There has been a shortage of speculative built, mid-size units on the M62 corridor and many occupiers do not have the time to wait for a design and build. This scheme has been particularly well designed and planned with the units having a high specification and with a good range of sizes.”

Park 32 is located less than one mile from Junction 32 of the M62 giving immediate access to the motorway network. Popular local attractions include the adjacent Park Side Retail Park, Xscape and Junction 32 Outlet Shopping Village. The new Axiom retail park and community stadium for Castleford Tigers are also proposed for the area for delivery by 2021.