23
July, 2008
KIRKLEES BUSINESS NEWS
PROPERTY FOCUS
Retailer plans to revive former Tradex premises A NEW store is set to open in Huddersfield – bringing up to 90 jobs to the town. Soft furnishings retailer Dunelm-Mill will open its 90th store in the former Tradex premises at Beck Road, Ringway Industrial Estate close to the ring road. The 33,000sq ft store is due to open in September. Building work is now under way to provide a modern, air-conditioned store on two floors selling about 18,000 different product lines, including bedding, curtains, gifts, fabrics, linen, cushions, bathroom and kitchen products, quilts, pillows, rugs and lighting. The store will be open seven days a week with free parking and a coffee shop. The company said it would be recruiting for a range of roles at the new store, including assistant managers, full and part-time sales assistants, warehouse assistants, stock administrators and cash office administrators. Chief Executive Will Adderley said: “We are really looking forward to opening this store in Huddersfield and bringing our ‘Simply Value for Money’ prices to the area. “We are also looking forward to offering jobs to local people and welcoming them to this fast-growing family business. The opportunities are here at Dunelm-Mill if you want to take them, so aim high and you’ll get there!’’ Dunelm-Mill, which was founded in 1979,
has stores across the British Isles and employs more than 6,000 staff. It already has eight stores in Yorkshire – at Bradford, Barnsley, Doncaster, Hull, Rotherham, Sheffield and York. It opened its flagship store in Leeds six months ago. The company offers a wide range of items for the home with the boast of providing customers with department store quality at “simply value for money” prices. It also specialises in fabrics for curtains and upholstery and offers custom-made curtains, blinds and accessories service, which are produced at its own manufacturing centre in Leicester. Recently, Dunelm-Mill was voted the UK’s third favourite retailer in a poll of more than 6,000 shoppers. Shoppers were asked to rate the stores in terms of range, prices, convenience, quality, service, ambience, facilities and layout. Bill and Jean Adderley founded the Dunelm-Mill in 1979 as a market stall business in Leicester selling ready-made curtains. The first store opened in 1984 and over the years the business has developed into a nationwide chain. The Leicester-based company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in October, 2006. Its latest results show it made operating profits of £27.5m for the six months to the end of 2007 against £19.7m for the same period of the previous year. Revenues were £197.3m
against £178.4m. The Tradex building has been empty since the clothing wholesaler closed its store in January, 2006. Tradex opened the store in 2001, before which the premises were occupied by DIY chain Focus Do It All.
High quality advice
PROPERTY agency DTZ has advised Bridgewater Place on the completion of another commercial letting at the tallest building in Leeds – leaving the building fully occupied. DWF Solicitors has agreed a 15-year lease, with an option to determine on the 10th anniversary, on office space comprising 31,000sq ft. A mixed use development, Bridgewater Place rises 32 storeys to dominate the skyline of Leeds. It provides 225,000sq ft of modern office accommodation, 200 high rise apartments and retail and leisure facilities. Eamon Fox, associate director at DTZ, said: “The iconic Bridgewater Place forms part of the new corporate city district south of Leeds rail station. It offers a superior location for a broad range of occupiers including; Eversheds Solictors, Ernst & Young, BDO Stoy Hayward, Operon and now DWF Solicitors, leaving an impressive occupier profile in the building.
■ NEW LEASE OF LIFE: Work is under way to revamp the former Tradex building at Ringway Industrial Estate on the edge of Huddersfield town centre to provide a new store for furnishings retailer Dunelm-Mill
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AGENTS CONSULTANT ADVISOR •
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TRAFALGAR MILLS LEEDS ROAD HUDDERSFIELD HD2 1YY •
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To Let Modern and Purpose Built Units
Why not use the experts? MB Services have over 20 years experience in letting industrial units ■ VARIETY ACT: Paula Dillon (left), of Addleshaw Goddard, with (from left) Duncan Syers and Maxine Webb, of the Variety Club, and comedian Tom O’Connor
Property fundraisers MORE than £163,000 was raised for charity at the Yorkshire Property Awards. The Yorkshire region of the Variety Club’s children’s charity will benefit from the donations made by generous guests at the awards, which were held at Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate. More than 800 property professionals attended the event, which is a major fundraiser for the work carried out by the Variety Club across the region to help disadvantaged and disabled children.
Awards presented on the night included Property Deal of the Year, which went to a joint venture between Caddick and Land Securities to develop the Trinity Quarter in Leeds. The award for Best Regeneration Project went to Waystone for its work on the Glasshoughton project at Castleford. Among other categories, the prize for Best Commercial Development went to Clarence Dock, Leeds, and Roland Stross,was named Yorkshire Property Personality of the Year.
Queens Mill Industrial Estate
Queens Mill Road, Huddersfield 1 mile from town centre, easy access to M1/M62 Modern Industrial Units to let Mezzanine floor Unit 19 ....4966 square feet Unit 20 ....5362 square feet Brockholes Business Park
New Mill Road, Brockholes 41/2 miles from town centre, easy access to motorway network Unit to let in attractive business park Unit 4 ......985 square feet
Contact:
Jason Metcalfe Hanson Chartered Surveyors 01484 432043
Trafalgar Mills
Leeds Road, Huddersfield 2nd floor offices to let 4376 square feet Modern hi-tec office unit can be subdivided Broadfield Mills
Albert Street, Huddersfield Unit 1a . .6650 square feet Mezzanine floor Junction 25 Business Park
Mirfield Good access to motorway network Modern Units to let Unit 2 . . .5272 square feet Unit 3a . .4793 square feet Unit 5 . . .2953 square feet Paul Andrew Eddisons 01484 533151
MB Services 01484 557102