Member Article

10 jobs created as kitchen firm expand into former Cumbrian Seafoods premises

Durham-based online kitchen and appliance firm Andrew James UK Ltd have created ten jobs as they expand into the former premises of Cumbrian Seafoods.

In a deal struck by North East-based Naylors Chartered Surveyors, Andrew James will move into the 125,000 sq ft warehouse that Cumbrian Seafoods vacated in 2013 following its closure by parent company Youngs Seafoods.

Andrew James, which employs over 200 people, had been operating from the 90,000 sq ft premises in the former Henderson Garage Doors unit at Bowburn North Industrial Estate.

Andrew Tomlinson of Andrew James said: “We’ve been considering an opportunity like this for sometime to grow the business and with the help of Naylors and other professionals we have achieved that.

“There’s a lot of work ahead but this move will enable us to take on further new staff from the local area and we can continue to expand in line with our business strategy.”

Keith Stewart of Naylors who secured the premises for Andrew James added: ’We have a well established relationship with Andrew James, having known them for a number of years and working with them to acquire the unit on their behalf was straightforward.

“The firm required a large distribution depot due to their expanding business and as they were keen to stay in the Durham area there were limited existing opportunities.

“We identified Foxcover as a good logistical location for the business going forward and given the number of highly skilled staff that live in the borough the opportunity was one that fitted well.”

Foxcover 7 & 8 is a detached factory/warehouse unit built to a high specification; it was originally developed by Grantside in 2006 and subsequently converted into a food preparation unit.

It occupies an 8.3 acre site and includes offices, canteen facilities, cold storage, staff amenity areas and a large services yard, it also benefits from eight dock level loading doors and over 200 car parking spaces.

HTA Real Estate and JLL acted on behalf of the receivers. Simon Hill of HTA said: “The demand for units of this size is increasing in the region and it is encouraging to see the market improving with companies like Andrew James making significant investment in property for the benefit of their business.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .