Acquisition by German firm sees manufacturer’s assets auctioned off
THE assets and factory of Huddersfield firm Batoyle Freedom Group are being sold after the lubricant manufacturer was bought by a German firm.
Batoyle’s 25,000 sq ft premises in Milnsbridge is being auctioned off by Leeds chartered surveyors and auctioneers The Landwood Group, whilst its assets have already been disposed of.
The site was a blending facility, and has refurbished units by property consultancy Dove Haigh Phillips.
Batoyle was founded in 1875, and was acquired in June 2014 by Fuchs, a family-owned firm with a UK subsidiary in Stoke-on-Trent. It reported sales of €1.8bn last year.
The Huddersfield site was closed down earlier this year, with the loss of 50 jobs as operations moved the the German firm’s West Midlands site.
The machinery and business assets team at the Leeds office of the Landwood Group sold off Batoyle’s specialist range of assets, including blending and storage vessels and laboratory analysis equipment.
Richard Parkinson, director of the Landwood Group, explained: “There were 30 external tanks, some over 30 feet high. In addition a further 50 internal tanks each holding 7,000 litres or more held in the roof void 40 foot above ground.
“The only way of removing them was to remove parts of the roof and use heavy cranes to lift them on to the ground
“The removed plant went all over the England and as far north as Aberdeen. Some of the laboratory equipment even went to Dubai.”
Mike Dove of Dove Haigh Phillips commented: “The Landwood Group has done a superbly professional job in getting this strategically important site ready for the market.
“It now has the potential to be a first-class industrial property location, close to both the centre of Huddersfield and to Yorkshire’s excellent motorway network.”
