Both were built speculatively as shell units by developer Pendle Russells – a JV between contractor Russells Construction and developer Pendle Projects – before being fitting out by the new owners. The deals were secured by agent Richard Heslop from Dale Edison Commercial.
The business park is now 41 per cent occupied, with the remaining 59 per cent under offer or in negotiations.
Established in 1989, West Yorkshire Glazing manufactures and installs aluminium framed windows, curtain walling, shop and office fronts for both residential and commercial customers across the region. The business has relocated to Bradford from north west Leeds, bringing 12 employees and plans for future expansion.
Jane Waddington, managing director, said: “This move is the latest phase of our expansion strategy, to address our need for increased manufacturing capacity. Current and expected future demand means we outgrew our existing premises. It was important for both customers and staff not to move too far from Yeadon. Baildon Business Park is ideally located for us and will allow us to continue to serve customers across West Yorkshire and beyond.
“The unit was a fantastic blank canvas, spacious and clean and allows us to have a small customer showroom as well as an extended and better equipped workshop. We recently took on some extra employees to meet the growing demand and will be looking for more fitters, fabricators and administration staff immediately to help us to fulfil our ambitious plans.”
Norman Hinchliffe, managing director of John Ayrey Die-Casts, has been searching for new premises in the area for more than five years and is looking forward to making the move in the coming weeks. The business, which supplies die-cast scale models and kits to customers across the globe, employs 16 staff locally and is celebrating 65 years in the model trade.
He said: “We are currently based in the centre of Shipley in an old building which no longer meets our needs, and a large amount of our stock is stored in another storage unit in Shipley. The move will allow us to have everything together under one roof, and we are also upgrading our computer system to further improve efficiency. The site will also allow for easier deliveries than the current site, and it is large enough for us to grow into with more staff in the future. We will be using some of the additional space to develop a 3D printing facility, initially for our own products and R&D, but we hope to offer a service to other local businesses in the future.”
Andrew Russell, from Pendle Russells, is pleased to have secured purchasers for the two speculatively-built units, and is looking forward to the next phase of construction. He said: “The experience of both of these long established businesses has been very similar, they were desperate to expand but struggled to find a site which met their needs. As a brand new site, Baildon Business Park is ideal for businesses in need of more space, modern facilities and better access, and I’m pleased to that both feel they have found what they were looking for.
“Premises can have such an impact upon the success of a business, and its ability to grow, and yet there has been no development to help meet those requirements in this area for a good number of years. We’ve another 38,000 sq ft in for planning at the moment which will form three units, with all three under offer. We hope to start building this out soon, leaving a further 50,000 sq ft remaining which I’m confident will be agreed within the next few months.”
Baildon Business Park is a 15-acre site on Otley Road which will eventually house a total 150,000 sq ft of business space. It has planning for B1 use in a range of unit sizes. For more information about taking space at Baildon Business Park please contact agents Atkinson Associates, Knight Frank or Dale Eddison Commercial, or call 01943 873 613.
