A new £1.4 million speculative industrial development is being created on the outskirts of Birmingham.
Coventry-based Deeley Construction has started work on the former Mallard Lodge site in Marsh Lane, Water Orton, on behalf of Flexdart Limited.
Flexdart is a scrap metal merchant, with clients around the world, and is branching out into property development as the business expands.
The firm, which was established in 1957, selected Deeley Construction to undertake the work on the 16,000 sq ft industrial property with a two-storey office, delivery area and car parking.
The site was previously a house known as Mallard Lodge and had historically been used as a workshop for car repairs in the 1940s.
Nic Bevan, of Flexdart, said: “The scrap metal side of the business is expanding. We have a global customer base and are always looking for new opportunities within the trade.
“However we also want to diversify the business and saw this as a great opportunity to develop a property that we could lease out to another company and bring further employment into the area.
“It’s ideally located, close to the M42 and M6 motorways which provide ready access to the rest of the UK mainland and ports, within 15 minutes’ drive of an international container base, train station and airport we believe it will attract significant interest.
“We went out to tender and we were impressed with the plans that Deeley Construction put forward during the interview, particularly how they would ensure the development would cause minimal disruption to the local area and environment. It is important to us and our business to be good neighbours and Deeley shared that ethos.”
Martin Gallagher, the managing director of Deeley Construction, said that speculative industrial development had been rare in recent years but was vital for the regional economy.
He said: “We are delighted to be underway at Water Orton on behalf of Flexdart after being successful in the competitive tender process.
“There is not a huge amount of speculative development being undertaken when it comes to industrial premises but there is certainly a need for it.
“The ability to regenerate a site in this way and work in partnership with our clients is a great strength of Deeley Construction.”