ST. MODWEN LETS 50,000 SQ. FT. UNIT AT LONGBRIDGE

St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, has let the 47,780 sq ft Unit Four at the Cofton Centre in Longbridge. This was the last available unit.

Philip Cornes Ltd, the Redditch-based global supplier of heat and corrosion–resistant stainless steels and nickel alloys, is moving into the property as part of its expansion programme. Up to 28 jobs will be created with the move.

St. Modwen has signed a 12-year lease with Philip Cornes’ parent company TW Metals group, the American speciality metals distributor.

Gail Thomas, vice president and managing director at Philip Cornes and TW Metals, said: “Since Philip Corne’s acquisition in 1998 by TW Metals, customer inventory needs have been serviced from the TW group’s European headquarters in Southampton, whilst the sales and administration office remained in Redditch. Due to Philip Cornes’ rapid development and expansion over the years we are now relocating inventory and processing to this new facility at Longbridge.                                                                                                               

“We chose Longbridge because of the quality of the development. Philip Cornes is a high value company and we need a high standard of warehousing to reflect our calibre. Unit 4 also gives us space for future expansion. The good security, central location, motorway access and nearby rail network were also major factors.

“A total of 18 staff will relocate from the Redditch office to work in the new warehouse and we will also be employing up to ten people from the local area to work in areas including inventory management, processing and exporting.”

Developed by St. Modwen as part of the wider £1 billion regeneration of Longbridge, the Cofton Centre is a 35-acre self-contained and secure estate providing industrial/ warehouse space.  Situated on Groveley Lane near the A38, the existing Unit One and Unit Two were sold to EH Smith and PRG Lighting and the newly-built Unit Three was recently let to IT Fleet Solutions. St. Modwen has also secured outline planning consent for further design and build opportunities on the site for units ranging from 30,000 to 225,000 sq ft.

Jonathan Green, development surveyor for St. Modwen, said: “This letting to TW Metals demonstrates the demand that exists in the marketplace for high quality industrial space in a well-connected location.  In a challenging economic climate, a flourishing business community is being established at Longbridge and St. Modwen continues to take a proactive, flexible approach to meeting occupier requirements. We believe this is fundamental to the ongoing growth of the area and to the creation of 10,000 employment opportunities at Longbridge through ongoing investment and regeneration.”

Located within five minutes’ drive of the M42 (Junction 2) and the M5 (Junction 4) the Cofton Centre is just eight miles from the centre of Birmingham and is close to the Longbridge train station, which provides direct access to Birmingham University and Birmingham New Street to the north and Redditch to the south.

The Cofton Centre is part of the wider £1 billion regeneration of Longbridge.  More than 400 acres is being transformed by St. Modwen and the Homes and Communities Agency on the site of the former MG Rover works, delivering a sustainable community with the creation of 10,000 jobs and up to 2,000 new homes.  St. Modwen’s current focus is on delivering the £70 million town centre, which follows the recently-opened £66m Bournville College.  In addition, construction of the new £5m Myplace youth centre is underway and 113 new homes on Lickey Road have been launched to the market with over 30 already reserved.