A Key milestone has been achieved with the first business to sign up to a newly transformed business park near Amesbury, Wiltshire.
Motor group Foray is to move part of its operations to High Post Business Park, the 200,000 sq ft (18,580 sq m), 20-acre site which has had new life breathed into it with a multi-million pound refurbishment by new owner M7 Real Estate.
The facility was in danger of remaining empty following the departure of MAHLE Filter Systems, one of the 30 largest companies in the automotive supply industry worldwide, which relocated to Telford in Shropshire by December 2009 with the loss of more than 500 jobs.
M7 came to the rescue of the strategically located site, which is on the A345 midway between Salisbury to the south and Amesbury and the A303 to the north, after the original High Post was placed in administration in September 2010.
Now other potential occupiers are set to follow in the footsteps of Foray at rebranded High Post Business Park, which comprises manufacturing, warehousing, technology and office space.
Philip Holford, a partner at the Salisbury office of commercial property consultancy Myddelton & Major, the joint agent on the scheme, said: “The arrival of Foray as inaugural occupier is great news, helping to generate jobs, and this first signing is a key milestone and a real confidence marker.
“The significance of the signing should not be underestimated by anyone interested in the economic wellbeing of the region, including policymakers.
“High Post Business Park is an economic asset with great potential – the aim is to create a thriving commercial hub with hundreds of people on site, and it is only be a matter of time before other businesses join Foray here.
“M7 has a strong track record in achieving high levels of occupancy on its estates, generating jobs and prosperity. The company has invested millions of pounds on a substantial refurbishment programme over this summer, evidence that it is confident High Post Business Park will play a major role in the regional economy.”
Foray has agreed a 10-year lease on Unit 4, a refurbished 22,259 sq ft (2,068 sq m) high-quality warehouse, at a headline rent of £5 per sq ft.
Foray will be relocating its parts storage and logistics operation for the group from its main site on Churchfields Industrial Estate, Salisbury.
Chris Yoxon, Managing Director of Foray Motor Group, said: “High Post is an excellent location for the parts distribution element of our business with quick access to the A303 and our network of ten Ford Motor dealerships across Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset and Somerset.”
Simon Martel of Warwick Martel, based in Romsey, Hampshire, the park’s joint agent, said: “Strong interest is already being shown in High Post Business Park, with a range of high-quality industrial and warehouse buildings from 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) to 92,000 sq ft (8,547 sq m), with good-sized yards and unrivalled parking on a lease-or-sale basis.
“Expansion land and external storage areas are also available. The park also has substantial electrical power supplies, which are said to be increasingly hard and expensive to source.
“Immediate access to the A345 midway between Salisbury and the A303 at Amesbury gives superb road communications links whilst avoiding Salisbury city centre congestion.
“It is also a well-known fact that Churchfields is constrained by location, so High Post Business Park will be able to take the strain and help remove traffic from the city streets.”
The A345 provides the main traffic route to the north of Salisbury, with convenient access to the A303, the main east-to-west traffic route from the M3 in Hampshire to Exeter in the West Country.
Myddelton & Major and Warwick Martel, as letting agents, advised M7 on the inaugural letting deal.
