SKILLED LABOUR FORCE CAN ATTRACT NEW OWNER FOR SCUNTHORPE FACTORY

That’s the view of Duncan Willey, the commercial property expert tasked with finding a new occupier for Roxburgh House, on Clayfield Road, alongside Fox Lloyd Jones from Leeds.

Roxburgh House, and the adjoining industrial units on Atkinsons Way, have both been occupied by Mondi packaging.

The substantial office and warehouse accommodation measures 50,252sqft with the production facilities at Atkinsons Way offering a further 50,000sqft. The 100,000sqft facility previously produced easy-open polyethylene films and performance laminates, supplying food and non-food businesses across the UK.

Unfortunately, the international packaging and paper group, which has its headquarters in Vienna, opted to close the Scunthorpe plant and move its operations to Deeside in Wales.

Now a new tenant is being sought for the site on the Foxhills Industrial Estate, which used to employ around 80 people.

Mr Willey, the Divisional Director of PPH Commercial in Scunthorpe and Grimsby, said: “The closure of Mondi is clearly disappointing for the town, and was due in part to a decline in demand and the centralisation of production and distribution to Deeside.

“Obviously, it’s been a challenging time for Mondi employees and their families but I’m hopeful a new owner can be found who will bring jobs back to this prominent site.

“The fact the area benefits from an extensive and readily available skilled labour supply, from manufacturing and production to distribution skills, will make this site very appealing to potential tenants.

“Despite being a fairly new instruction for us, there has already been a reasonable level of enquiries. We’re confident we will be able to attract a new business as this large facility is ideally suited to a variety of production, manufacturing, warehouse or distribution uses.”

The packaging business was originally brought to Scunthorpe by businessman Marc Wheatley more than 30 years ago, but was later sold to Austrian-based Mondi.

Situated close to the M180 and M181 motorways, the site boasts excellent national road links and is close to regional airports and docks. It has been used for production purposes, but also benefits from a range of office and staff facilities.

To enquire about this property, please call 01724 294946 or email duncan.willey@pph-commercial.co.uk for more details.