Property round-up: Northwood Group; BXB; Express Building; Cosi Living; Flexible Business Interiors; A&F Forecourts
Grantham-based Northwood Group has acquired a 14-acre (5.7 hecares) site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, to increase production of its toilet tissue and kitchen towel products.
The group launched Northwood Consuma Tissue (NCT) in December 2022, and the purchase of the new site is part of its expansion plans for the business.
The site houses a 235,000 sq ft facility and a new, high speed, state-of-the-art and fully automated line will be commissioned and operational during the third quarter of 2023. Phased installation of a further three lines will give the site a total finished roll product output of more than 55,000 tonnes per annum.
In addition to mainstream toilet tissue and kitchen towel output, NCT in Grantham will retain its point of difference in facial, toilet tissue and kitchen towel with specialist print, lotion, fragrance and added-value capability for events and seasons.
As the largest private label facial tissues supplier in the UK, the Grantham site will remain NCT head office and a centre of excellence for the production of facial tissue. This site will benefit from further investment as production lines are automated.
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Retail area outlined in red
Developer BXB Thornton has secured planning consent from Wyre Council for the commercial element of its wider Fleetwood Road development in Thornton Cleveleys.
The consent, under delegated powers, clears the way for 8,000 sq ft of neighbourhood retail to support the rapidly-growing population in the area. The development, comprising two units of 5,000 and 3,000 sq ft, respectively, is adjacent to the company’s site for 130 homes, currently being reviewed following rejection against officers’ recommendations.
BXB Thornton is a joint venture between Liverpool-based brownfield land specialist BXB and developer Promenade Estates.
Gary Goodman, BXB director, said: “We’re pleased to be moving forward at Thornton and would like to thank the local authority for this consent. We consulted extensively with the public, who were overwhelmingly in favour of good quality neighbourhood retail provision. There’s still some work to do to try and accommodate councillors’ needs with regards to the housing site next door and we hope to make an announcement in this regard shortly.”
More than 630 homes are expected to be built in the immediate area in the near future. Retail provision was, therefore, always a key element of the wider masterplan for the company’s land-holding, which is split either side of an access road. Mr Goodman says consent for the housing element would release funds for the extension of the road into the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone, freeing up land for further commercial development.
He added: “We have always viewed both applications strategically, making a wider contribution to the development of new employment opportunities for local people. With the economy facing some serious headwinds, we hope that this can be unlocked.”
The 12-acre site was acquired in February 2021 and the previously enjoyed consent for a supermarket, permission for which has now lapsed. The planning consultant for the application was Nexus, with ERAP (ecology), Curtins (transport), Urban Green (landscape) and The Harris Partnership (architecture) completing the professional team. Mason Owen and Jeccor are now advising BXB Thornton on lettings for the two units.
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Express Building
Letting agents OBI and CBRE have announced several new deals, totalling almost 30,000 sq ft at Express Building, in Manchester, leaving only two floors now remaining at the building.
The latest deal to be announced was the letting of the sixth floor and mezzanine, extending to 8,528 sq ft, to cyber security business, Novacoast.
They follow VF Corporation, which committed to the 9,180 sq ft, fifth floor earlier this year, where it will be opening new showroom and office premises for brands including Vans, The North Face and Timberland.
After Huckletree’s expansion at the end of last year that saw it expand in to the second floor, taking its total occupation to more than 37,000 sq ft at the building, this leaves just the third and fourth floors remaining, which both extend to around 11,500 sq ft.
Richard Lace, transactions and asset management, at OBI said: “These latest transactions announced at Express Building are a major coup, given the quality of the brands and businesses who have been attracted to the building.
“When you look at the types of occupiers who reside in Huckletree, coupled with Novacoast and VF Corporation, we have created a dynamic mix of tech, fashion, digital and creative companies, which was always the vision when we set out to reposition the asset.”
Novacoast, whose new office is being designed and delivered by OBI, will look to move into the building later this year.
Matt Ziegler, of Novacoast, said: “We are thrilled to have secured the top floor and mezzanine in the Express building. The local team are excited to relocate to later this year and look forward to the amazing workspace and superb views of Manchester’s city centre from the dedicated rooftop terrace. Additionally, the move to Ancoats allows our team to truly take advantage of the fantastic amenities located close by.”
Originally built in 1939, for the Daily Express newspaper, the restoration of the Grade II* listed Express Building was completed in 2019 and now boasts more than 77,500 sq ft of contemporary workspace.
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Joe Duggan
A Liverpool-based HMO agency that started in May 2020 has expanded, doubling its office space and adding new full-time members to the team.
Founders Joe Duggan, 24, and Olivia Maher, 25, started the HMO agency from scratch, securing their first property on Gumtree, a 10-bedroom house in Sefton Park. Since then, the property entrepreneurs have gone on to secure more properties across the city and now manage 256 rooms and tenants.
Having recently rebranded to Cosi Living from J.O. Property Group, the firm has enjoyed exponential growth in the past two years, taking on two full-time members of staff and feels its has outgrown the first office on Goodlass Road in Speke.
Cosi Living has now doubled its office space in the same building, going from 220 sq ft to more than 500 sq ft creating a meeting and kitchen space, breakout chill zone and workspace to ensure the team has an environment that represents the company entirely.
The new space will enable the firm to hire a finance and admin assistant, portfolio manager and an operations assistant/general manager.
Joe said: “It’s really important to us that the team enjoy working in the office that we create. The space had to reflect who Cosi Living is, what we do and why we do it.”
Cosi Living works with landlords and investors to renovate, refurbish and maintain their properties, while also finding suitable tenants to occupy them. The company then liaises directly with tenants, including professionals and students, to source suitable homes for them.
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Chep Trafford Park
Flexible Business Interiors (FBI), a fit-out and refurbishment company based in Manchester, has completed a £1.5m office transformation for Chep at its UKI headquarters on Village Way, Trafford Park.
Delivered through a phased build programme over six months, the project saw FBI’s fit-out team working across 15,000 sq ft on three floors to create a dynamic, collaborative workspace that offers a variety of settings from traditional desks to informal break-out areas and closed booths for quiet concentration. A small café, staff kitchen, soundproofed video conferencing pods, a range of meeting rooms and WC’s were also part of the brief.
BlueSky Design developed the look and feel which takes inspiration from Chep’s branding in terms of the blue toned colour palette, and features statement wall illustrations that depict maps of the local area. Planting throughout and full height vinyl photographs of lakes and forests have been used to bring the outside in.
Chris Barton, director at Flexible Business Interiors, said: “One of the things we are most proud of at FBI is the high rate of repeat business we secure and the longevity of our client relationships. We completed a refurbishment project for Chep back in 2019 as they moved into their premises on Village Way and so we are extremely grateful that they chose us for their latest project which was spurred on by the changing face of the workplace post-COVID.”
Louise Derbyshire, facilities manager UK&I at Chep, said: “Since the pandemic we realised that our office environment needed updating to ensure staff were motivated to work onsite, as well as providing them with a range of settings more suited to modern working styles. The new space has been live for a few weeks now, but we have already seen an increase in team members wanting to spend more in the office, and utilising the new feature areas.”
Cushman & Wakefield acted as contract administrators.
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From left: Mark Wooley, Gordon Spotten (Together), Ataf Patel (A&F), Sean Williams (Together), Dave Jones (A&F)
Diners in Bolton are due to receive two new drive-thru restaurants after developers secured funding from Cheadle-based specialist lender Together.
Developers A&F Forecourts has completed the development of the site at Bridgewater Avenue, and has brought on-board the two on-the-go retailers Greggs and Burger King.
The first stage of the petrol forecourt development – which includes an electrical car charging hub – has already been completed.
Specialist lender Together, provided the finance for the family-run company for the second phase of the major project.
Ataf Patel, who owns the Bolton-based development company with wife Ferhana Munshi, said: “It’s great to have completed this new project and we’re excited to have brought on board two restaurants which are household names in Greggs and Burger King, as tenants.”
Plans were initially submitted by the developer in 2022, and planning permission granted later on in the same year. This will be Greggs’ third drive-thru in the North West, following the opening of restaurants in Irlam and Blackburn.
Gordon Spotten, business development director at Together, said: “The couple have extensive experience in developing and running some of the UKs best forecourts, and we have every confidence that this one will prove successful, too. We hope to work with the couple again in the near future.”
