Ashcourt Group buys former Hull gas works site in £5.25m deal

Hull’s Ashcourt Group has swooped for a 33-acre industrial development site in the city.

The construction and civil engineering company has completed a £5.25 million deal with National Grid for the land to the south of Clough Road.

It is primed for storage as well as design and build opportunities, with warehouse and trade counter operations identified.

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A former British Gas site, the sale comes almost a year after the neighbouring NPower call centre changed hands.

Iain Cairns, senior associate director at BNP Paribas Real Estate, who acted for National Grid, said: “Securing Ashcourt Group, a Hull-based company for this site is a huge win for the local area and will create significant employment opportunities which will benefit the local economy.

“This sale demonstrates the strength of the National Grid property portfolio and the demand for well-located brownfield land development opportunities positioned across Yorkshire against the backdrop of a lack in supply.

The site sits alongside Humberside Police’s relatively new Clough Road station and has been bought unconditionally.

Ashcourt Group directors were not immediately available for comment on their plans.

It is described as having support for employment, industrial, or trade counter uses under the city council’s emerging local plan. Since last used as a gas works it has since been divided into plots of between three and 10 acres.

For BNP Paribas it is the latest disposal on behalf of National Grid.

PPH Commercial acted for Ashcourt Group, a £106 million turnover business that has evolved from student accommodation provision to major commercial builds and wider construction interests over the past quarter of a century.

Headquartered in Foster Street, it employs more than 300 people, having grown sharply in the past year, with the £5.25 million fee paid within £200,000 of 2020/21’s £5.4 million pre-tax profits.

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