Wolverhampton jobs boost as mystery manufacturer plans i54 factory
Scores of new jobs could be on the way after a mystery hi-tech manufacturing company put in an offer for a new factory on the i54 development site, on the border between Wolverhampton and South Staffs.
Talks are 'at an advanced stage', said Noel Muscutt of property agents Bulleys.
"We are hoping to make an announcement fairly shortly."
If a deal for the site was agreed it would be "very good news for the area indeed," Mr Muscutt added.
Details are currently being kept confidential while talks continue, but it would involve an advanced manufacturing company from outside the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire area creating new jobs.
Mr Muscutt said there had been very strong interest in the 15.5 acre site, close the growing Jaguar Land Rover engine factory, since went on the market late last year.
The site is one of the last patches of development land left on the 239 acre South Staffordshire i54 site, which is also home of aerospace factory Moog, testing firm Eurofins and stamp printer ISP.
The site is jointly owned by Wolverhampton council, South Staffordshire Council and Staffordshire County Council. Last year they called in Halesowen-based industrial estate operator A & J Mucklow to develop and find tenants or buyers for the remaining plots.
It is proposing three advanced manufacturing factories for the 15 acres, of 40,800 sq ft, 74,800 sq ft and 160,000 sq ft. Bulleys and Cushman & Wakefield are the joint letting agents.
Mr Muscutt, from Bulleys, said the proposals were "very much indicative of how the site could look", rather than concrete plans.
The actual factories will be build to the specifications of the manufacturing companies that move on to the site.
When Mucklow was brought in by the councils last year the company chairman, Rupert Mucklow, said: "We won't be involved in speculative development. We will hope to attract companies looking for high quality industrial space, something bespoke, and working with them to develop buildings that fit their needs."
The i54 site is already seeing major development work as JLR expands its engine plant, turning it into a £1 billion factory. It already makes four cylinder Ingenium diesel engines and production of petrol engines is due to start later this year.
A further project is almost doubling the size of the factory, which will extend from the M54 motorway to the north to the Wobaston Road to the south. Building work is expected to be completed by next summer.
It has helped make the i54 a regional centre of advanced manufacturing, with the added attraction that the site already has outline planning consent, meaning a new factory could be built and completed in just 10 to 12 months. It is also part of the Black Country Enterprise Zone.
The i54 is one of a string of advanced manufacturing sites across the West Midlands that have been attracting increasing interest from companies.
Cushman & Wakefield has recently signed up industrial robot manufacturer FANUC UK to a site on Ansty Park, at Coventry, and has worked on a scheme to build a new 94,500 sq ft facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Hub in Birmingham, which is already home to US hydraulics manufacturer Hydraforce and German owned precision engineering firm Guhring.
