Serving the Teesside Business Community | 19
Transformed – Mandale has given the newly-named Mandale Business Park development a new lease of life in Durham .
Upgrade – Mandale is currently renovating Stockton ’ s Arkgrove Industrial Estate in a £ 1m redevelopment .
Home from home – Mandale ’ s eye-catching HQ , which is situated on Pennine Avenue , off Portrack Lane , in Stockton . in tatty industrial units . Everybody wants quality now .
“ Mandale Park is on the 30-acre site of the former LG Philips electronics factory . When the firm went into administration we bought it and stripped it back to its steel frame , then converted it into industrial units as well as building some offices .
“ The size of the units is completely flexible depending on tenants ’ needs . We have let units from 2,000 up to 6,000 sq ft and we even have plans to build a 58,000 sq ft distribution unit . They ’ re being snapped up quickly and we ’ re on site fitting them out to the required specifications . Virtually any size can be provided .”
The wide variety of tenants already on the site includes a car parts distributor , a forklift truck supplier and a bathroom and kitchen company .
“ There ’ s strong demand for the offices we ’ ve built ,” adds Joe . “ Severn House is already finished and fully let and we have two more office blocks under offer .
“ We ’ re constantly trying to stay ahead and cater for what people actually want and need . If we find something isn ’ t working , we ’ re able to diversify into something else . “ When the technology boom took off about ten years ago and people started using mobile phones and iPads more , we found that companies were retracting and losing staff . Offices were being left vacant and we had lots of To Let signs all over the area .
“ We realised the office market was shrinking , so we started selling some off and converting others into apartments , as well as buying vacant offices that we could make into apartments .
“ We ’ re continually searching for more offices above shops to convert into apartments , which we think is a niche market at the moment . We recently completed a scheme at Forest Hall in Newcastle , a parade of tired-looking shops with a 20,000 sq ft former council office building above them .
“ We converted the offices into onebedroomed apartments and now it ’ s a beautiful building with ten very smart shops .
“ We ’ ve stayed away from the high street but retained retail properties in side streets such as Dovecot Street , Ramsgate and Shipping Yard in Stockton .
“ We ’ re realistic and understand what people can afford to pay in rent , which means that as well as having many large companies we have a lot of businesses run by local people as well .”
The company ’ s constant willingness to tweak its business model and constantly adapt to an ever-changing world has proved to be a highly lucrative formula .
So if you see Joe and ask him , “ Ey up , how ’ re Mandale doing ?”, he won ’ t be snookered for an answer . The response will be that they ’ re doing very well , thank you .