Samworth Brothers leases extra land in Leicester

The food giant would lease the land at Ashton Green to expand its Bradgate Bakery factory. The deal with the council would have an ‘option to buy’ clause once the lease expired.

Samworth Brothers said the proposed area would allow it to meet its expansion plans at the site.

The manufacturer’s group executive director Paul Davey said: “Our Ashton Green site, part of our Bradgate Bakery, has gone from strength to strength since it was opened in late November 2014.​

“More than 400 new jobs have been created since then, and we expect the bakery to grow further in the future.”​

Invested £17M​

Samworth Brothers, the company behind Ginsters and Soreen, acquired more than 14 acres of land at the site almost two years, and has invested around £17M in the bakery since then.

Commenting on the newly agreed deal, a company spokesman told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “​We are looking to extend our warehousing and storage capabilities and, potentially in the further future, our manufacturing capacity.”​

Leicester City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the deal made mutual sense for both parties.

“We are talking about a piece of land that has no particular use for us, but is very important for them,”​ he said.

“There are a few issues of uncertainty with the wider area, which has led to the lease approach in the first instance, but I would expect it to develop into a full sale.”​

The ‘issues’ of uncertainty could not be disclosed – as well as the full details of the lease and provisional sale – due to commercial sensitivity.

New distribution hub​

The announcement of the deal came two months after Samworth Brothers applied for planning permission to build a new distribution hub. Only a short 10 minute drive would separate the company’s Ashton Green bakery and the proposed distribution centre at Leicester Distribution Park.

At the time, Samworth Brothers md Paul Bennell said the proposed distribution hub would “extend our capacity locally, and mean all our county businesses will have the capacity for further business growth”​.

He added: “We will have leading distribution facilities allowing our businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire to prosper and grow.”​