It is now two years since Ford ended production at its huge car engine plant at Bridgend in south Wales after four decades with the loss of around 1,000 jobs.
But is there about to be a new chapter in the life of the factory, which extends to 1.67 million sq ft located within 158 acres of land?
The formal marketing of the site on behalf of the car giant, undertaken by property advisory firm CBRE, began back in the spring,
Having assessed five bids, from property developers and owner occupiers, there is speculation - while a deal has yet to be struck - that is has identified a preferred bidder. CBRE is remaining tight-lipped on the process. However, a person, who was part of the bidding process, said that one offer is understood to have come in at around £30m, far exceeding other offers. He added: “Whether that has been taken forward is not clear, but it certainly came in significantly higher than other bids.”
A data centre owner occupier for the site could be a potential outcome - attracted by its connection to the National Grid, with a small element of wind turbine renewable generation on site too.
Tech firm Microsoft has made no secret of looking to increase its data centre presence in the UK. Earlier this year it acquired the former LG Quinn Radiator site in Newport for its first data centre project in Wales.
Asked if it had bid for the Ford site, a spokesperson for the company said: “We don’t have anything definitive to share at this time, but can confirm we are committed to supporting Wales in its digital transformation with the support from the Microsoft cloud.”
Amazon Web Services is also investing in new data centres and in March announced it will invest £1.8bn in the UK over the next two years building and operating new facilities to meet growing customer demand.
The suitability of the Ford site for such an investment is set against the context that connecting a new data centre built on a brownfield site to the grid, assuming regulatory approval from Ofgem, would cost around £20m.
The Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) was one of the five initial bidders for the Ford site.
It is understood it had teamed with a Welsh property developer who would have been tasked with bringing in new tenants into the huge facility. The strategy be could seen as similar to that of the former Welsh Development Agency in acquiring strategic sites and then making them investor ready. The CCR, using its £1.3bn City Deal, earlier this year acquired the former Aberthaw Power Station, covering 500 acres, in the Vale of Glamorgan from energy giant RWE, in a £8m deal. It has committed a further £28.4m to demolish the power plant and fund remediation and redevelopment work with plans to develop a new renewable energy hub.
The CCR bid for the Ford plant could come back into the mix if the automotive firm is unable to finalise a deal with any preferred bidder.
However, Ford would want to see an unconditional sale of the site concluded as quickly as possible. The facility is now liable for business rates - after an initial six month exemption. With energy standing charges, security, insurance, maintenance and other on-costs, the empty factory is likely to be incurring a bill for Ford of several million pounds a year.
Part of the site had been designated last year by the Welsh Government as being at risk of flooding in new TAN 15 guidance covering the whole of Wales. . However, following a backlash, its introduction has been delayed until next year as efforts as made to mediate flood threats in affected areas so allowing development.
Brocastle
Next to Ford the Welsh Government’s brownfield Brocastle site, which extends to around 83 acres of developable land, has attracted strong interest from developers and owner occupiers. The vast majority of the land, which has been marketed as two separate lots, is now under offer.
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “The strategic employment site we have developed at Brocastle provides a great location for us to attract new businesses to Bridgend. I am pleased to confirm parts of the Brocastle site are already under offer. We have a strong pipeline of further enquiries from a range of owner occupiers and developers. The completion of the active travel route will further enhance the accessibility and attractiveness of the site to potential new tenants.”
The Brocastle site has been marketed by property advisory firm JLL.
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