The group, which employs about 100 staff in Leeds, plans to leave the five-acre site in Hunslet Road but said that owing to the downturn, which has seen developments mothballed and housebuilders scale back, it is unlikely a realistic offer will be forthcoming in the forseeable future.

Finance director David Brown said the site, which has planning permission for about 700 apartments, could fetch between £5m and £16m.

"We're rattling around in here," he said. "It's old, there's a lot of maintenence, and we're within less than a mile of the city centre.

"It really is essential to relocate the business to get it into a more sensible size of operation without the overheads of something as old and large as this."

However, Mr Brown said rather than hold on until prices rise, the group was exploring other options which include retail, and is talking to a number of interested parties.

"The ideal option would be to relocate in Leeds," he added. "It would be much less hassle for our workforce to move to somewhere that could be within a mile of the factory itself."

However, it is understood Braime could consider moving manufacturing out of the UK altogether if it does not get a good price for its site. It has a subsidiary in France.

Braime, which now concentrates more heavily on machine components for lifts used in agriculture and food, reported group sales for the six months to June 30 increased by 24 per cent to £7.28m, and pre-tax profit almost doubled at £125,000. It it expects to make progress but will not pay a dividend.