A huge heavy castings site in Scunthorpe looks set to be auctioned off after it was bought out of administration by an industrial sales specialist in a £1.3 million deal.
The Bondshold business behind the 103-year-old operation on Dawes Lane collapsed last Christmas, as the 219 employees at three separate sites across the north left for the annual shutdown.
Officials cited “market challenges through its exposure to the steel sector” and operational issues following a business purchase as the reasons for insurmountable losses.
Over the festive period the group shed more than 75 per cent of the workforce, with 77 whittled down to 16 early in the new year.
Under the administration of Deloitte sales worth £250,000 were completed, returning a surplus, the latest update has revealed.
During that time Avison Young and PPH were jointly appointed to sell the 20-acre site, with the land and buildings acquired by Tamar (Selby) Ltd for £710,000.
Plant, machinery and equipment was also bought for a further £615,000, with the remaining order book bringing in £15,000.
Tamar is an offshoot of Northern Ireland-based Euro Auctions, an industrial and plant sales specialist with eight global offices, including one in Kellington, which sits in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, between Leeds and Goole.
Most Read
It is thought likely the freehold for the site - established as a First World War munitions factory - will go under the hammer, with agents likely to be retained by the buyer if taken on as an investment rather than by an operator.
Duncan Willey, the divisional director for PPH Commercial, said at the time of being appointed that the site was ideally suited to heavy industrial uses such as engineering, manufacturing and waste or energy-related companies.
It is the single largest industrial property available in North Lincolnshire, benefitting from large-scale electricity and gas supplies, together with a range of cranes and a 50-tonne weighbridge.
Bondshold was headquartered in Crook, Durham, with a further plant in Alston, Cumbria. Sales were agreed for sites there to defence specialist William Cook and Teescraft Engineering Ltd for £1 million and £200,000 respectively.
In Scunthorpe, John Brown and Co of Sheffield had signed a lease for the land to build a steel foundry in 1917. It continued to trade as Firth Brown, Firth Rixon and Bradken, and was acquired in 2016 by Bondshold, with the help of a £500,000 grant from the steel fund set up to mitigate restructuring losses at the Scunthorpe steelworks.
As well as steel, Bond also served traditional coal power stations, making giant pulverising sets to prepare the fossil fuels, and had adapted to serve biomass - with Drax a high profile customer.
Euro Auctions has been contacted for comment on the immediate plans.