500 jobs set to take a step closer at former tobacco factory

Henry Boot Developments’ (HBD) plans for the redevelopment of the former Imperial Tobacco site in Nottingham, which could create more than 500 jobs, look set to take a step closer.

Nottingham City Council’s chief planner has given the thumbs to up the Planning Committee to give the redevelopment of the landmark 48-acre site the go-ahead when it sits next Wednesday afternoon (21 November)

The site had been home to Imperial Tobacco’s UK production and distribution facility since the late 1960s, before production moved overseas in 2016. HBD purchased the site last summer in a multi-million pound deal.

The new development, named ‘New Horizon’, will stretch over the southern half of the site, covering 28 acres and providing up to 500,000 sq ft of new industrial buildings for a variety of uses. The site could also be suitable for other uses, with the planning application also including car dealership use to complement the recently opened Aston Martin facility next door.

In August, Justin Sheldon, regional manager at HBD, said: “We have already undertaken some selective demolition of the Horizon building, and the remainder will be completed throughout the late summer and autumn period. We have an exciting opportunity to regenerate the site following its closure in 2016, and we certainly hope to see new buildings on the site by autumn next year.

“On completion, our investment in the site will exceed £60 million, with the potential to create more than 500 new jobs. I cannot think of a better located site, capable of providing this volume and scale of development so readily accessible to the motorway, ring road, city centre and labour force.”

The joint agents on the site are JLL and Knight Frank.