BURNTWOOD AUTOMOTIVE FACILITY SOLD FOR OVER £5MILLION

A former automotive site in Staffordshire has been sold to a vehicle cleaning product company for more than £5 million.

The freehold of unit 9 Attwood Road, a 60,000 sq ft warehouse on Burntwood Business Park, was placed on the market at the end of 2019, with commercial agents Harris Lamb being instructed by Charter Automotive to secure a buyer.

The property, which combined Grade A office space with a high-quality production facility and a 1,500 kVA power supply benefits from 1.8 acres of expansion land to enable further growth and development. Andrew Groves, who oversaw the deal, said this made the property a rare opportunity for occupiers who wanted to buy a freehold property with the ability to expand.

“We placed the property on the market last year at a guide price of £4.9 million, confident that we there would be a high number of enquiries, and further to receiving strong levels of interest, we invited best and final offers. After receiving multiple offers, a sale was agreed to Autosmart International Ltd for a price in excess of £5 million,” he said.

Autosmart, which specialises in the manufacture and delivery of  market-leading vehicle cleaning products across a number of sectors, purchased the building to aid its expansion and increase its manufacturing capacity. Once fitted out, the facility will operate in conjunction with their existing sites in Shenstone and Norton Canes.

Andrew added: “It was a pleasure to work with both Charter Automotive and Autosmart on this transaction. There are very few modern freehold buildings currently available and the 1.8 acres of expansion land made this facility a very attractive and flexible building for future occupiers.”

Sophie Atkinson, MD at Autosmart, said: “We were extremely pleased to have won the sealed bid to buy Attwood Road. It was a very fair process for the vendor, and nail biting for us. We like the Burntwood area, we bought a similar site nearby five years ago, and we have found the local community welcoming and a good source for local staff.

“Our franchisees’ sales growth into the UK and Northern Europe has meant that we needed more manufacturing capacity and we are planning to manufacture our detergent range at this site.”