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Raleigh chairman Phillip Darnton said negotiations for a new warehouse and offices are well advanced and expects to exchange contracts for the purchase of an existing building, with office accommodation, at Eastwood, Nottingham, later today.
The deal should be completed by the summer and Raleigh plans to operate from the new site from January 2003.
The site is presently owned by Havelock Europa plc, makers of designer built furniture and shop fittings. Raleigh will purchase the whole site of 187 000 sq ft of buildings on a 13 acre plot.
The plan will be to use the present building as warehousing for imported cycles. The new range will be launched in January 2003. Raleigh will continue to distribute via its own delivery fleet.
The new site will provide employment for about 110 permanent staff, principally in marketing, sales and distribution functions as well as the Raleigh product, sourcing and engineering teams.
The Eastwood buildings fall under the jurisdiction of Broxtowe Borough Council, which has helped Raleigh in its relocation plans. The plant is on the A610 Nottingham to Mansfield Road, close to junction 26 of the M1.
Raleighs Parts and Accessories is close by at junction 27 and there are no plans to locate the divisions under one roof.
Darnton said: "We have been very fortunate to find a ready-made solution for our needs, and I am delighted that the Board of our parent company, Raleigh Cycle Limited, have been so willing to press ahead to negotiate the purchase of this property. Raleigh – for all its past difficulties – is still very much the leading bicycle brand in the UK and closely associated with Nottingham.
“While we will be leaving the city itself, where we have had such tremendous support from the City Council, we will still be very much a part of Nottingham life. Everyone at Broxtowe [Borough Council] has been keen to help us with our plans. I am sure that this will give us an ideal situation in which to build a new generation of business success.
“The news of our move puts to rest two and a half years of uncertainty and will give us new momentum for our rebirth as the best marketing, sales and distribution bicycle company in the UK, with the very best brand in the world.”
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