LAND at Silverwoods Business Park in Kidderminster has been sold to a manufacturer of filtration products to be developed into a state-of-the-art plant.

Business park owners St Francis Group has confirmed the sale of 3.6 acres of land off Stourport Road to Barton Firtop, allowing the company to merge its three existing sites into a purpose-built plant, including new manufacturing, testing, warehouse and office facilities.

Phase one of the development is expected to create 100 new jobs, while phase two could provide an additional 50 employment opportunities.

Commenting on the deal, St Francis' development director Gareth Williams said: "We are very happy to welcome Barton Firtop to our premier Silverwoods Business Park development and to support their next phase of growth and expansion needs.

"This deal follows several other land sales during 2018 which now brings the park to practically 90 per cent occupancy with only a few plots remaining.

"Silverwoods is a real success story locally, creating much needed new housing, community facilities, leisure attractions and retail space in the process creating several hundred new jobs from the local community.”

Kevin Troughton, managing director at Barton Firtop, added: "This is a really exciting time for the company, enabling our current level of growth to progress to the next stage.

"Our company currently has space limitations and this problem is compounded by operating between three separate sites, so this new build will enhance our capabilities and enable us to meet ever

increasing capacity requirements, ultimately resulting in further increases in turnover and staffing levels.

"Over the last decade the company has more than doubled its staff base and with this acquisition it remains on course to expand further, based on the increasing demand for our World Leading Filtration products that are supplied to prestigious clients around the globe.”