Member Article

Citivale pledges 2,500 jobs at Humber Enterprise Park

THE new owner of BAE Systems’ Brough factory has pledged to turn it into an industrial powerhouse employing 2,500 workers.

Defence giant BAE dramatically scaled back its operation at the facility in 2011, with hundreds of job cuts, due to plummeting demand for its Hawk training aircraft.

The entire site, including BAE’s remaining factory, has now been bought by LC Industrial, a partnership between investors Lumina Real Estate Capital and Citivale.

Citivale managing director James Appleton-Metcalfe said: “I’m terribly excited about it all.

“It’s completely different from anything else we’ve come across over the whole country and I think it’s got great potential. We really see this as being a hive of activity and adding to Brough as a town.”

BAE still employs about 950 staff, but Mr Appleton-Metcalfe expects that, when the facility is fully let, it will create another 1,500 jobs.

The £10m deal will allow its owners to breathe new life into the site.

Although the Humber Enterprise Park has been available since last year, BAE has focused on its own operation instead of bringing in tenants.

Now the site has been sold, LC Industrial will be spending about £6m to make it ready for new occupants.

The whole park is in an enterprise zone, offering tax breaks to firms setting up there.

Mr Appleton-Metcalfe said: “In five years’ time I would hope the site would be busy. I think it will be one of the most forward-thinking enterprise zones there has been”.

Two military manufacturers, Cablescan and Supercraft, are already tenants at the site and fabricator Rexrob Engineering took an 8,500sq ft building shortly before Christmas.

The latter has spent about £250,000 on new machinery, employs five staff and hopes to grow rapidly.

Director Jon Rex said: “When we looked into it, it seemed like a fantastic opportunity.We’ve got room to expand here. Business is looking very promising.”

The site is being marketed by Sheffield firm Commercial Property Partners and East Yorkshire property agent PPH Commercial.

PPH director Ben Medhurst said he hopes multinational tenants will come, creating hundreds of jobs.

He said: “Cityvale has a really clear vision for the site, particularly how it can tap into its heritage.

“There has already been significant interest in the site from manufacturing companies, including from firms operating in the renewables sector.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .