Serving the Teesside Business Community | 23
THIS IS THE PLACE
Joe Darragh at Severn House on Mandale Business Park, where the development company has invested £ 20 million to offer a range of industrial units and office accommodation.
A
range of North-East firms are tuning in to a major new industrial estate that was previously base for a giant television manufacturing site.
A £ 20 million investment from Teesside’ s leading commercial property developers, the Mandale Group, has transformed what was once the base for a 3,000-strong LG Philips workforce.
Boasting easy access to the A1( M), Mandale Business Park features a combination of fully refurbished, state-of-theart industrial units and 10,000 sq ft of modern office space.
Situated just two miles east of the city of Durham, the park sits within a wellestablished commercial zone which is already home to such notable names as the Home Group, Durham and Darlington Fire Service, Age UK and a number of major car dealerships including BMW and Mini.
The three-storey Severn House is an impressive new build with state-of-the-art office accommodation that can be subdivided to any required dimensions, and with facilities that have already attracted BHP Law, North of England Newspapers, engineering firm NG Bailey and an NHS dental training centre.
Within a stone’ s throw is the high quality warehousing and industrial space of Witham House, the first stage of a major commercial development that will eventually see Mandale Business Park provide around 250,000 sq ft of business space.
Completely refurbished by Mandale from the former LG Philips factory, units have already been snapped up by Cathedral Pallet Trucks, sign specialists Orgatex UK and
We have lift-off!
Joe Darragh with Phil Trott of Cathedral Pallet Trucks, one of the newest clients at Mandale Business Park.
logistics leaders Viveros Group.
Four further units are available to buy or let within Witham House together with two further nearby commercial units.
Bespoke fit-outs to suit individual requirements are offered by Mandale, who can tailor loading facilities, office accommodation, external circulation and extensive yard areas.
With dimensions ranging from 2,700 to whatever size required, all units have been“ future-proofed” by Mandale, with property specialist Joe Darragh explaining:“ We’ ve designed all the units with energy efficiency in mind, ensuring we keep running and maintenance costs low.
“ Each of the units have been recladded, roofs and floors have been replaced and new car parks installed. These are hi-tech facilities,
They’ ve only just moved into their new 5,000 sq ft home on Mandale Business Park, but MD Phil Trott believes Cathedral Pallet Trucks could soon need to double in size.
The materials handling company, who specialise in the hire and sale of forklift trucks and pallet trucks, is in advanced talks with two of the UK’ s biggest retailers over a contract that Phil says would boost his firm’ s £ 1 million turnover by a further third.
It’ s already been an incredible journey of success for Cathedral. Phil started the company 25 years ago“ with one van, one box of tools and one pound in the bank”.
Now, as one of the country’ s leading suppliers of forklift and pallet trucks, they boast some of the UK’ s most recognisable brands among a long list of high-end customers that features such big names as Debenhams, Staples, Dixons, Homebase and as good as you’ ll find anywhere – warm, insulated units with high-quality lighting.
“ What we’ ve done for firms who’ ve already taken units is work closely with them to understand their requirements and ensure they get exactly what they want.
“ For Cathedral Pallet Trucks, for instance, we designed and created an admin office, kitchens, toilets and a mess room with highquality electrics, lighting and heating.
“ Lots of companies are moving to Mandale Business Park because of the design, the location and accessibility to bus routes.”
Joe Darragh of the Mandale Group is working with Tim Carter of Connect Property and Danny Crammon of GVA on the leasing of the units. Joe can be contacted on 07973 908599.
UK Mail. Phil, who employs nine staff in Durham, admits he’ d previously been reluctant to hold meetings with high-end clients on the tired old premises Cathedral had called home for the past 17 years.
“ Now I’ m more than happy for all of our clients to come here because everything about the place on Mandale Industrial Estate is top quality,” he says.“ It’ s shiny, new and bright – and I come into work with a spring in my step.
“ It’ s like we’ ve gone from a rusty Mondeo to a brand new, top-of-the-range Maserati.
“ It was built to our spec, tailored to our needs, with Mandale ensuring front of house was exactly what we wanted, while we’ ve invested behind the scenes.
“ We couldn’ t be happier and it’ s already helping us attract new, high quality staff. I hope it’ s going to be our home for good.”