'Unique’ Bradford industrial site up for sale

‘Unique’ Bradford industrial site up for sale

One of the few remaining large-scale development sites in Bradford city centre has come to the market following confirmation of packaging company Holmes Mann’s plans to relocate its business.

Property consultant Eddisons has been instructed to sell the freehold interest of the 73,000 sq ft industrial units on a 2.4 acre site on Harris Street in Bradford. The firm has also been appointed to acquire new premises on behalf of the 125-year-old family business, which produces a range of cardboard and wooden packaging for blue-chip clients such as Rolls Royce, Sony and Johnson & Johnson.

Situated close to the ring road, the prominent site also fronts the Shipley Airedale Road and is suitable for a variety of uses. The existing building includes a number of interconnecting single-storey industrial units, secure yard and car parking areas.

John Padgett, Director at Eddisons, said: “The recent opening of the Broadway shopping centre has been a real boost to the city centre and is helping to put Bradford back on the map in the eyes of developers. Large city centre sites such as Holmes Mann’s, with good access and in a convenient location, are becoming increasingly rare.

“This is one of the last remaining city centre development opportunities which is attracting a lot of interest from a wide range of prospective buyers and we’ve already undertaken numerous viewings.”

Barny Holmes, managing director at Holmes Mann, added: “It’s been a landmark 12 months for Holmes Mann, we’ve celebrated our 125th anniversary, heavily invested in new equipment and expanded the workforce to keep up with growing demand. We now need to move to more modern premises to increase production levels and double our turnover to £7.5 million in 2016 so we need somewhere that will accommodate that growth.”

Holmes Mann has a long history in Bradford. The fifth generation family business was established by Jonas Holmes in 1890 to produce rolling boards for the city’s booming textiles industry. The company plans to relocate to new premises in Bradford.