A former dairy in Okehampton is being transformed into a factory for manufacturing bee hives.
The former Robert Wiseman Dairies site in Hameldown Road, Exeter Road Industrial Estate, has been acquired by local company National Bee Supplies Ltd. Commercial property adviser GVA represented Robert Wiseman in the sale of the 3 acre site, which includes a detached 21,000 sq ft warehouse building.
National Bee Supplies have been in Okehampton since the early 1990’s, manufacturing the finest quality bee hives from western red cedar in their former 15,000 sq ft factory, also on Exeter Road Industrial Estate. There have been plans to expand the manufacturing operation for some time following the growth in demand for bee hives and associated equipment as more people have taken up beekeeping to help save the honey bee.
When the now redundant Wisemans milk factory came onto the market for sale in April 2011 through GVA, this provided an enormous opportunity for National Bee Supplies, enabling them to increase production and hold increased stocks of beekeeping and ancillary processing equipment to help speed up deliveries during the periods of high demand.
The purchase of the site would however not have been possible without the support of Robert Wiseman Dairies over the past few months since the plant closed. Throughout the purchase, Wisemans have worked with Bill and Paula Stevens, the new owners, to ensure the site will continue to provide increased employment opportunities for Okehampton and the surrounding area by offering considerable investment in Okehampton and a very welcome boost to local aspirations in these very difficult economic times.
A spokesman for Robert Wiseman Dairies said:
“The closure of our dairy in Okehampton was a sad day for our company and for everyone connected with the site. We hope very much that Bill and Paula Stevens will go from strength to strength from its new expanded operation.”
Amy Bullamore, of GVA’s industrial agency team who handled the sale, says, “We are delighted to have concluded this sale to a local company whose business is buzzing.”
