Bidwells Completes Sale of 20-acre Birmingham Site to Auctioneer

Our Industrial & Logistics Team securing a sale price in the excess of £10m for the 347,447 sq ft (20acres) site.

Launched to the market at the end of September 2023 the property generated significant interest from a wide range of end users from developers, investors, speculators and owner occupiers culminating in Bidwells securing multiple bids for the facility.

After a second round of competitive bidding a purchaser was selected with terms being agreed swiftly thereafter.

The successful purchaser was John Pye Auctions. 200 jobs will be created following the acquisition which will become its largest auction sales space in Europe.

Other plans include the creation of an auction facility with 50 salerooms which will support growing stock levels in a central hub.

Adam Pye, managing director at John Pye & Sons said:

“Due to a large increase in stock levels and demand for our services from our clients across the whole business due to performance, in-house learning and innovations plus an increasing number of large insolvency instructions, we need more space to fulfil the evolving demands of our client base.

“This new site located in the West Midlands is in a strategic position in the country, so has huge benefits from a logistics point of view. Its size means we can take on more client stocks, hold more auctions and the location will contribute to our commitment to carbon reduction and sustainability by lowering transport emissions.”

For the last financial year ending 31st July 2023, the business had a record-breaking year, with auction receipts hitting £119m and turnover reaching £45m, up 36% on the previous year.

Patrick Stanton, Head of Bidwells Industrial and Logistics Team who handled the sale on behalf of Dart commented:

“It has been a great pleasure working with Dart for the last 10 years. During this time, we have advised on various acquisitions and disposals of several high profile UK assets. The sale of the Cradley Heath, Dart's UK HQ facility, is the last piece in the jigsaw and we are delighted to have secured a figure well in excess of the guide price”.

“The market demand for freehold sites, especially of this size, remains incredibly strong from all sectors. We were able to generate considerable levels of interest from all fields, but it was the owner occupiers who remain well financed and keen to invest in their own real estate, that dominated the bidding process”.

“This disposal highlights the team's ability to successfully deal with Industrial & Logistics assets across the UK. We have several high-profile acquisitions and disposals under offer at present and we look forward to announcing further deals in due course’.

Bidwells advised Dart Products Europe Ltd and  John Pye worked with Mark Lewis at Browne Jacobson and the team at NatWest Bank to broker the deal. The site was sold  in January and is expected to open in Q2 2024