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Hamiltons acquire Aldeby Business Park
“Our rapid growth in removals worldwide over the past five years has driven us to look for additional and larger premises,” says Michael Sawyer, Hamiltons’ MD.
The acquisition of the 6.5 acre Aldeby Business Park in the Waveney Valley will provide customised facilities for our European and international, and deep sea, operations.
“We are very excited about this development as it will give us an extra 100,000 square feet of storage space for our customers, and state of the art facilities for our staff. The loading bays have self-levelling rising floors, which is particularly useful when you are loading 20 foot and 40 foot containers.”
The site was for many years the headquarters of the Waveney Apple Growers, who processed apples from local growers in the summer and kept their staff employed over the winter making rush products. Since then, it has been used by Atlantic Country Superstores, and Tobar Ltd. Hamiltons will be undertaking a 12-month refurbishment of the whole site.
A number of units on the Park are available to let, and Hamiltons would like to encourage start-up businesses as well as established companies looking for large, light and spacious units in an attractive rural setting, within easy reach of road, rail and air networks.
Prices start at a very competitive £2 per square foot (£21.50 per square metre). There are twelve small units of 83 square metres each, a detached office building, and a series of industrial units which would be appropriate for warehousing – or even storing one’s collection of vintage cars!
For more information on the available units, please contact Neil Akerman at Akermans Chartered Surveyors, 10a Market Hill, Framlingham, Suffolk IP13 9AN Email: neil@akermans.co.uk Telephone: 01728 621 621.
Never-ending love affair with France
Hamiltons will be exhibiting at the French Property Exhibition at London’s Olympia from 5th-7th October 2012. “The British love affair with living in France shows no sign of cooling,” says managing director Michael Sawyer.
“When we took a stand at the previous exhibition in Yorkshire we talked to many people whose life-long ambition was to start a new life in France, retire there or have a second home.”
They included Angela and Chris Webb, who had holidayed for many years in Brittany when their children were small. Angela had taken early retirement from her job as a primary school teacher and they were looking to relocate.
“Moving at any time is stressful,” says Angela. “You lie awake at night and think through all the things that could go wrong – but nothing did! Hamiltons gave us an estimate really quickly, and there were no hidden extras. The staff were consistently helpful, even when the temperature during the actual move was 30 degrees. They not only carried in all the furniture, but offered to set up the rooms exactly as I wanted. All I did was make them cups of tea throughout the day!”
Hamiltons provide a weekly service to France, and the company has been able to turn this into two-way traffic. “We are increasingly providing a removal service to individuals or businesses relocating back to the UK, or French nationals moving here. This means that our removals vehicles are coming back fully loaded, and we can pass on these economies to our customers.”
With the strength of the pound at a two year high against the euro, organisers Archant Lifestyle are expecting over 3,000 visitors to the exhibition, 80% of whom are actively looking to buy in France.
Hamiltons’ French team of experts will be on hand to provide advice on everything from customs regulations to insurance requirements, setting up a business or schooling. “We can – and do – move anything,” says Michael. “We even moved an entire farm from England to the Dordogne – including the livestock.”
See our free guide to relocating in France.