Phoenix rises from the ashes at business park

Kigass Ltd is working with agents ehB Commercial to redevelop the £3 million St George’s Business Park in Lower Cape on part of the site of the former Benford/Terex plant, which relocated to Coventry over ten years ago.

The site has been redundant and vacant ever since.

Kigass Ltd is the property development division of family-owned Kigass group of companies, including Kigass Aero Components in Montague Road which employs 80 people and works with blue chip organisations such as Rolls Royce and F1 on bespoke and world-beating engineering solutions.

Managing director Joanne Smith is the great grand-daughter of the firm’s founder Charlie Wardman and a main board director for Kigass Aero Components. She said: “Benfords was a traditional engineering company that employed a lot of people and the plan is to re-introduce that enterprise in the town – we want to see this site rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of what has gone before.”

ehB director Simon Hain said all 11 units on the 4.4 acre site - ranging in size from 1,750 sq ft to 7,500 sq ft – would be for sale, rather than lease and that they would be ideal for companies involved in design, manufacturing, engineering or warehousing.

He said: “This is good news for the area, not only for new jobs, but sign that the local economy is recovering.”

Construction is expected to get underway in early July.