The freehold of one of the largest factories in the South West ever to come to market has been sold on behalf of the joint administrators of WBH Highbridge, Ross Connock and Matthew Hammond of PwC by the Agency, Restructuring and Recovery teams at property adviser GVA in Bristol.
GVA secured a buyer in under four months for the former Woodberry Bros & Haines Ltd furniture factory on the Walrow Industrial Estate, near Highbridge in Somerset.
At nearly 500,000 sq ft – the equivalent of ten football pitches – and situated on a 21-acre site, the factory is clearly visible from the M5 in Somerset.
The purchaser is local company Briarwood Products who are relocating from their current facility in Weston-super-Mare where they have been trading successfully for over 30 years and have now taken the opportunity to expand and further develop their business.
Briarwood Products hold the largest stock of fibre cement roofing sheets and accessories in the UK, supplied primarily to the agricultural market via a nationwide distribution network. A fine example of Briarwoods EUROSIX products can be seen locally at Sedgemoor livestock market, off J24 of the M25, where over 8,000sqm of material was supplied.
Alan Janes, Managing Director of Briarwood Products, says: “We are very proud to have completed the purchase of this excellent site, where our investment and commitment to the local area will enable our plans for continued growth to be realised.”
Paul Hobbs, Director with GVA’s Industrial and Distribution Agency team, says: “The site attracted a significant number of bids from occupiers and property investors, as expected. While being one of the biggest lot sizes ever to come to the market in the South West, it is a modern factory, in excellent condition, and has the potential for multi-occupation, which we understand is part of the new owner’s plans for the site.
“As EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point C’s supply chain gets going, it could well play a part in that project as a storage centre. It is great news that Highbridge has real potential to recover here as the project takes shape for Briarwood .”
The price achieved was not disclosed.
Lyndon Brett Partnership acted for the purchaser.
