Factory to breathe life into former foundry complex

JF Finnegan has completed a deal with Henderson Global Investors for the purchase and construction of a 110,000 sq ft factory for Sheffield-based Home Décor.

The development will kick-start the regeneration of the 15-acre former Laycast Foundry Works site.

The site, in Woodhouse Mill to the east of Sheffield, was occupied by Laycast until the organisation’s operations closed in 2006.

The company was put out of business by massive electricity price rises, eight years after the completion of a multi-million pound investment in equipment which created one of the most advanced foundries in Europe.

Over the last four years, Woodhouse Link, a joint venture between JF Finnegan and Laycast, has undertaken a demolition and remediation programme to create an industrial and distribution park known as Woodhouse Link.

Home Décor is moving from its current base on Beighton Road in East Sheffield to the new facility.

Home Décor, which has 104 staff and a total turnover of 30m euros, is one of the biggest suppliers of floor-to-ceiling sliding doors and storage systems in Europe.

JF Finnegan will start work on the new factory site this month.

The premises are expected to be completed in December this year.

Nick Gillott, a director at JF Finnegan, said: “To have secured an agreement with a global investor and a local tenant as the first occupier at this exciting scheme is fantastic news for all parties involved as well as the local area which will benefit from the revival of the redundant site.

“This takes us a step closer to realising our goal of transforming the site into a major business and industrial hub which will create employment opportunities and attract inward investment into the area.”

Max Crosby-Browne, the chief executive of Home Décor, said: “The new premises will match our growth ambitions as a business and it’s a great location for our existing employees in the Sheffield area.”

Following the completion of the deal, a further nine acres of land can accommodate new development at Woodhouse Link.

It is hoped that in the long term, more jobs might be created by Home Decor in the new factory.