German manufacturer continues UK growth with purchase of its current premises
COMMERCIAL property consultancy GJS Dillon has sold the freehold of an 8,800 sq ft industrial unit in Bromsgrove to its current tenant, a German-owned precision engineering company.
Acting on behalf of private investor Edmund Gray, former managing director of GS Print – whose business used to occupy the site – John Dillon, managing director of GJS Dillon, agreed the sale of Unit 1, Buntsford Park Road to manufacturing company 2KM (UK) in a deal worth £495,000.
The firm has rented the 8,832 sq ft industrial unit for the past five years.
2KM (UK) has been operating in Bromsgrove since 1998. Its move to Buntsford Park Road five years ago coincided with the expansion of the business, which supplies specialist machinery and dispensing systems to the automotive, aerospace, medical and offshore industries worldwide.
The firm now employs 18 people in Bromsgrove and 70 at its headquarters in Germany, while it also has sales offices in China and North America.
Dillon said its decision to purchase the freehold of its unit underscored the confidence the company has in the post-Brexit UK industrial economy.
Rob McLaren, managing director of 2KM (UK), said: “2KM has been operating in the UK since 1986 through distributors and then formed the UK side of the business in 1998. From that date the company has been centred in Bromsgrove and has had steady growth to the current turnover of around £3,000,000 per annum. Two years ago the company started to manufacture machines in the UK and thought it an ideal time to put down a permanent base in the Midlands.
“The Germany company has now sold 45% of the company to the UK owners and this investment has enabled the purchase of the property. Working closely with GJS Dillon and our banking partners Nat West, funding was secured to enable the purchase of the building, giving a firm platform for growth and investment in the UK.”
Mr Dillon said: “When the lease was first granted, there was an option to purchase. I am delighted that 2KM (UK) has finally decided to buy the freehold. This is not only a confidence boost for the Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and UK economy in the post-Brexit era, but also a sound financial decision due to the current and increasing shortage of industrial premises in Worcestershire available for purchase, which continues to push up freehold values. There has rarely been a better time for freeholders to sell.”
Mr Gray said: “I am delighted to see 2KM’s business continue to thrive in the location where I ran a successful business for 25 years.”
Black Country law firm Higgs & Sons provided legal advice on the deal.
