BL selling site as factory units
By Clifford Webb
Midland Industrial Correspondent
BL Cars, which has more than £30m worth of closed down factories and few prospective buyers, is going into the industrial estate business.
The former car plant at Speke, Liverpool, is being split into factory units and will be known as the Triumph Trading Park. The 1.2m sq ft factory standing on a 100-acre site has been for sale for £10n for nearly 18 months without attracting an acceptable offer. Mr Roger Tucknott of Mason, Owen and Partners, the Liverpool estate agents, said yesterday: “We have had only two serious inquiries for Speke and they came to nothing. We have now been instructed to sell or lease factory units varying in size from 25,000 square feet upwards. This means that the site will have to be administered as a trading estate”.
Another former Triumph car factory, the Tile Hill paint and body plant at Coventry, is being advertised for sale at £2.75m. Coventry City Council wants to acquire 10 of the 40 acres for use as a trading estate, but it will not be putting up any cash. Instead it has offered BL a straight exchange for 13 acres of council-owned land adjoining Jaguar in Coventry, which could be used to extend production facilities when conditions improve. A former Rover factory in Bordesley Green Road, Birmingham, used for the storage of pallets has recently been sold for £400,000.
The MG sports car factory at Abingdon closes today but BL already has it up for sale. Leyland Vehicles, the group’s truck and bus company, has been more successful in finding buyers. The former Park Royal, London, and AEC Southall plants have already been sold for a reported £13m.
Is the Editor of the Parkers website and price guide, formerly editor of Classic Car Weekly, and launch editor/creator of Modern Classics magazine. Has contributed to various motoring titles including Octane, Practical Classics, Evo, Honest John, CAR magazine, Autocar, Pistonheads, Diesel Car, Practical Performance Car, Performance French Car, Car Mechanics, Jaguar World Monthly, MG Enthusiast, Modern MINI, Practical Classics, Fifth Gear Website, Radio 4, and the the Motoring Independent...
Likes 'conditionally challenged' motors and taking them on unfeasible adventures all across Europe.
- Concepts and prototypes : Hyundai/Rover Oden (1992) - 9 November 2023
- Opinion : So, maybe the Montego was the best they could do… - 8 November 2023
- The cars : Austin Montego (LM11) development story - 7 November 2023
Be the first to comment