PPH COMMERCIAL COMPLETE SALE OF 1.25M SCUNTHORPE WAREHOUSE TO NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL

Marketed by PPH Commercial for £1.25m, the detached premise has a purpose-built warehouse and distribution facility along with internal office and staff facilities.

Birkdale received a £400,000 Growing the Humber Business Investment Grant to ensure the expansion could go ahead. The company is a major UK manufacturer of garage doors, roller shutters, composite doors, awnings, pergolas and window blinds.

Having worked in partnership with the Council to secure funding from the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, Birkdale have now entered into a lease-purchase agreement with the Council to move sites on the Queensway Industrial Estate.

This type of speculative investment is common practice for forward-thinking local authorities across the UK, with the rental returns far outweighing the interest rates on offer at any bank.

Sitting in a highly-prominent location which fronts Brigg Road, the premises benefits from being close to other notable occupiers such as Howden Joinery, Lebus Furniture, TSC Foods and Harlequin.

Duncan Willey, the divisional director who completed the sale for PPH Commercial, said: “It’s no secret that commercial property has proven to be a shrewd investment in recent years, particularly for local authorities who recognise the returns which can be achieved.

“Since the credit crunch, it’s been hard to get a decent rate on any sort of major capital investment with the traditional financial institutions. As a result, innovative investors have looked elsewhere for opportunities.

“Some local authorities can borrow money for as little as 1 per cent, so it makes sense to invest this in commercial property which can offer an annual yield of anything from three to as much as 7 per cent.

“In my opinion, North Lincolnshire Council should be praised for adopting this brave and innovative approach to their investment strategy. Not only does it offer good returns, but it also brings added security to the local economy.”

Reflecting on the successful acquisition, Birkdale owner Simon Sturman said: “In the last few years Birkdale has invested heavily on new machinery, which allowed us to increase our capacity to cope with extra demand. This created workspace issues so to cope with growth, further investment and larger floor space was required.

“With the help of North Lincolnshire Council’s business development team, we’ve been able to find premises and secure grant money, which added to our own £1.4m of investment allowing us to bring forward our expansion plans.

“Now with further reinvested profits, we can continue our expansion. We are excited by the future outlook and we certainly have further expansion plans moving forward.

“The new machinery means we are the only UK manufacturer of garage doors that do not need to import panels from mainland Europe. With the current Brexit situation this gives us greater control of our business moving forward allowing us to increase our market share in the UK and to increase our overseas business.”

Councillor Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, added: “Supporting businesses in North Lincolnshire is a key priority for the council and we will continue to support investment in the area. We are always on the lookout for businesses to invest in North Lincolnshire, whether that is current businesses expanding, start-ups or a new one moving to the area.”