Developer Morgan Industrial Properties has paid out a seven-figure sum for the freehold of the former Hanson site in Alfreton Road.

MILLIONS of pounds are being invested to create a new seven-acre industrial park in Derby, potentially leading to hundreds of new jobs.

The Derby firm expects to pump around £10 million into the project, taking into account the initial investment, demolition, refurbishment and development costs.

Cranes that tower over the site will start to be dismantled next month, with demolition work complete by the autumn. All but one of the buildings will go.

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A total of 18,000 sq ft is already under offer to a manufacturing firm and work to refurbish the space is set to start soon. Subject to planning approval, some 120,000 sq ft of industrial space will be built at the site.

Depending on the use to which the space is put, the site is expected to create employment for between 200 and 300 people.

Neil Morgan, director of Morgan Industrial Properties, said: “This is a big regeneration project and by the time we have finished, we expect to have invested somewhere in the region of £10 million. The location is key because there are so few substantial sites on the north side of Derby for industrial development where there are good links to the A38 and the M1.”

Commercial property agent David Brown, who acted for Morgan Industrial Properties, said: “The beauty of the site is that we could accommodate a requirement for 60,000 sq ft. An existing building with internal cranes is under offer and we had interest within days of exchanging contracts, which is encouraging.”

The site was formerly used by Hanson to make precast concrete box culverts for the construction industry.

Iain Macpherson, property development manager at Hanson, said: “Production finished in March this year and was relocated to Somercotes, so this site was surplus to requirements and we are pleased that the deal has concluded successfully.”

The best-bids process by which the site was sold was managed by property consultancy Innes England. Director Nick Hosking said: “We expected strong interest in the site and there were more than a dozen bids. It is a good site and Morgan Industrial Properties will develop good-quality units, for which there is always a market in Derby.”