GUEST ARTICLE: Flintshire firm’s £4m industrial estate secure 150 jobs for the area

A £4M industrial estate built by a Flintshire construction and civil engineering firm has been fully let, securing 150 jobs for the area.

Kings Court in Sandycroft, built by The Hollingsworth Group close by to the firm’s headquarters in Engineer Park, is now home to 10 businesses spread across 12 units ranging in size from 4,500 square feet up to 18,000 square feet.

The new business park, off Prince William Avenue, has transformed a former piece of waste land into a thriving hub of industry by becoming home to various companies.

These include a family-run sachet packaging service firm which has doubled in size by moving to the site and the main UK arm of the international firm Broetje – a German firm which specialises in aerospace automation.

Shaun Hollingsworth is joint Managing Director of The Hollingsworth Group, which he set up with his brother Paul just over 30 years ago.

He said: “Kings Court has been a huge success for us. Each of the four phases of the site were let within six months of going on the market.

“There are not many new-build industrial units in the area and we wanted to create a very smart, clean, tidy, modern and well-equipped site which would be a pleasant place for people to come to work and create a really professional space for businesses to work from and invite their clients to.

“Our business is based here so we know what a fantastic location it is from where to access all the major motorway connections across North Wales and the north west.

“It is also within the Deeside Enterprise Zone which can bring added benefits to businesses who move here.

“The site has terrific views looking over to Hope Mountain and also to Airbus which has attracted two businesses associated with the aerospace industry to the site.

“The quality finish has meant we have been able to secure some really quality businesses which can only be good news, not only for our business, but for the wider community and local economy too.”

The 90,000 sq foot site is a mixture of light industrial, warehouse and trade counter units and has been fully landscaped with on-site CCTV and a barrier at the entrance.

Environmentally-friendly elements include full LED lighting throughout, the latest and most effective insulation for all the units, a water recycling system which uses rain water from the roofs for fire tanks and electric car points have been installed at the request of one of the firms on the site.

One of the newest tenants is Walters Houghton, a family-run sachet packaging service firm, mainly for medical devices and some cosmetics, which took over the largest unit on the site 10 months ago.

This has more than doubled their premises size from 9,000 square feet at their previous site in Flint to 18,000 sq feet.

Set up by husband and wife team, Nicola and Michael Walters and their business partner Alan Houghton 15 years ago, they have moved back to Sandycroft after starting up their firm at a former Hollingsworth Group unit close by. They moved from there to another site in Flint which as their business expanded, became too small for their needs.

Nicola, Operations Director for Walters Houghton, which has a 25-strong team, said: “We started looking two years ago and for us, the location was very, very important.

“Our business is very image-based and relies upon us making the right impression to our clients when they come to us to package their products for them.

“When we came to visit Kings Court, our first impression was ‘wow’. It was just so clean, smart, and professional that we felt straight away that it would be a very good move for us.

“The unit hadn’t even been built at that stage and we knew it would be a six-month build time but we were prepared to wait because it is hard to imagine that we would have found anything better.”

Their new unit houses a clean room, a warehouse and office space with a conference room to ensure the business can operate efficiently.

They now have 11 machines up and running, with another on its way, up four from their previous site.

Nicola added: “The space it has given us is one of the biggest benefits. We were bursting at the seams in our old site but now we have plenty of growing room which is vital as we continue to win more business.

“The space means we won’t be restricted and if we need to buy more machines to accommodate demand and build relationships with new customers, then we can do that.

“It’s also given the whole business and our team such a lift. It’s a lovely site to work on, with the premises being so airy, modern and clean. The views are incredible and it’s a real talking point when clients come to visit.

“We are close to all the major roads and the shipping as well at Liverpool docks where some of the products necessary to make up client formulas come in to.

“But yet we are in the heart of the North Wales countryside here so it really is the best of both worlds.

“It’s been a terrific move for us. Shaun had worked with us to help create our ideal premises and they care as much as we do that the site continues to remain fully functional, smart and professional looking.

“It’s a very good relationship that we have with them and as they have grown their business, we have grown ours and so it has been lovely to come full circle and be back on one of their sites again.”

Kings Court follows on from Hollingsworth Group’s first industrial site, the 20,000 square feet Holland Park, situated round the corner on Factory Road, which has five fully-let units.