Expansion plans for a Leicester engineering firm are set to continue following the acquisition of new premises in a deal secured by property agent Innes England.
Ridgway Machines will move from its existing premises at Anstey to a 30,000 sq ft modern industrial facility at Meridian Business Park after a period of strong demand from international customers.
Ridgway supplies machinery for the major power OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) such as Siemens and ABB and firms involved in the oil and gas industries.
The company has been benefiting from growing demand for power stations and renewable energy in countries such as China and Brazil and work on the €16Bn ITER fusion energy project.
The Leicester firm, which employs 30 people, is aiming to increase sales by 50% this year after managing to increase orders in spite of the downturn.
Stephen Hunt, managing director at Ridgway, said: “The move to new premises will help us to service our clients more efficiently and help us to expand the business through an increase in exports, which already make up 80% of our turnover, and the expansion of our high class engineering team.”
Innes England acted on behalf of its client POS Direct in the deal. The commercial property consultancy was able to negotiate an early surrender of a lease at the premises on Centurion Way and negotiate a new lease with the landlord, Trustees for Roman Catholic Purposes Registered, to enable Ridgway to take occupation. Stanton Mortimer acted on behalf of the Trustees.
Peter Doleman, director at Innes England’s Leicester office, said: “I am pleased with the outcome we have achieved for all parties. Since the beginning of the year we have seen an increase in demand for larger units of this size which is very encouraging and reflects well on the current state of the industrial market.
“Meridian is a successful business park and Ridgway will benefit from its ideal location, being adjacent to Junction 21 of the M1, and will sit alongside other successful occupiers including Sytner, Royal Mail, Boden, Samworth Brothers and Macro.”
