BIS backs sale of AWM’s assets

THE Government has confirmed the first batch of assets owned by Advantage West Midlands to be placed on the open market.

Thirteen land and property sites across the region have been backed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for sale at market value ahead of the regional development agency’s closure next year.

Among them are the former BBC studios at Pebble Mill in Birmingham, a former E.on substation at Bromsgrove Technology Park and Chatterley Valley, in Newcastle.

In February, AWM published a lengthy ‘Assets and Liabilities Transition Plan’ which contained details of how it intended to dispose of £400m worth of assets.

The document contained four different recommendations for its various sites – continued public ownership with further investment or minimal investment and short-term or medium-term disposal.

All 13 sites recommended for short-term disposal by AWM have now been sanctioned by the Government.

The Transition Plan said the disposals should be undertaken prior to the agency’s closure where investment into projects had been concluded and disposal would allow the “vision” to be achieved.

The assets are:

– Pebble Mill Studios, Birmingham
– Former Rentokil Site, Montgomery Street, Birmingham
– Wem Timber Yard, mid-Shropshire
– Former Kington Cottage Hospital, near Hereford
– Warehousing and office blocks, Golden Hillock Road, Birmingham
– 10 hectares on Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire
– Eastside Learning and Leisure Quarter, Birmimgham
– iCentral, next to Wolverhampton Science Park
– Four properties in Stoke’s Central Business District
– Former E.on substation @ Bromsgrove Technology Park
– Collier site at Chatterley Valley, Newcastle
– James Bridge Cooper Works, Darlaston, Walsall
– Former Corus steelworks, Tyseley Wharf, Birmingham

AMW spokesman Mike Goodall said: “Of the 13 sites, seven have already attracted strong interest from various people including local authorities and we are in the advanced stages of negotiations.

“There’s only two of the 13 which we have not yet marketed at Montgomery Street and Golden Hillock Road, in Birmingham.

“This first phase of assets were the ‘easy’ ones to deal with and we await the Government’s response to our other recommendations in due course.”