ERIKS to create 120 jobs at Prime Point

Estate owners London and Cambridge Properties has announced the addition to the multi-million pound speculative industrial and warehouse development.

The company, which has its UK head office in Halesowen,is creating a centre of expertise for its power transmission and integrated customer support operations at unit B, a 30,000 sq ft, on the first phase of Prime Point.

ERIKS has agreed a 15-year lease with LCP for the newly completed building and plans to base about 120 staff in the site.

Mike Ferris, chief operations officer of ERIKS UK an Ireland, said: “The Prime Point facility will be one of a number of ERIKS technology centres dedicated to innovation and customer service and will support our growth ambitions as Europe’s leading supplier of industrial products and services.

“We are bursting at the seams at a number of our offices, so relocating 120 or more staff will also give us the opportunity to consolidate a number of functions from different offices to improve the coordination and flexibility of our technical and engineering support functions.”

The site will incorporate application engineers from several product areas, as well as our design team, project/product assembly and customisation cells, along with a fully equipped repair and test workshop for drives.

Paula James, industrial lettings manager at LCP, said: “We are very pleased to have attracted yet another multi-national brand to the Pensnett Estate, and to the new Prime Point development in particular.

“ERIKS is a leading name in its industry and its strategic decision to relocate to Prime Point is a boost for LCP, which recognised the need for units of this size and has invested millions of pounds into this speculative development to bring businesses and jobs here.”

The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership has been supporting LCP with the development. Prime Point sits within DY5, Dudley’s business and innovation enterprise zone, which qualifies occupiers for benefits, including up to £55,000 a year business rate discount over a five-year period.

LCP’s appointed agents, Bulleys and Lambert Smith Hampton have been working with the company to attract new businesses to the area and talks are progressing with a number of interested parties.

Matt Tilt, industrial director at LSH, said: “Attracting ERIKS to Prime Point is a real coup and we are very pleased to have secured terms that will see the company continue its investment in infrastructure in the Black Country.”

James Bird, director at Bulleys, joint marketing agent, added: “We’re not surprised that Prime Point is attracting big names because it is a much-needed development in a strategic location. It’s great news that companies are recognising the benefits of being based in the Black Country.”

John Sambrooks, partner at Cushman and Wakefield, which represented ERIKS, added: “We are delighted to have secured this new flagship facility, which demonstrates our client’s commitment to the area.”

Last month, LCP announced that International Piping Products (Europe), which develops pipes for the oil and gas, petrochemical and nuclear industries, had opened a new £3 million facility at Prime Point.

The Pensnett Estate is one of the largest secure business estates in Europe, and home to 160 businesses in over 2.4 million sq ft of commercial property. Three years ago, LCP invested £1.5 million in Progress Point, a speculative development on the estate comprising 21,000 sq ft of high quality warehouse and industrial space.