News: Knight Frank oversee MTL's move to Rotherham

Property expert Knight Frank has used its extensive experience of relocating companies to oversee MTL Group's multi-million pound move from Sheffield to Rotherham.

The deal was the largest of it's kind in South Yorkshire when it was announced last year and sees the contract manufacturing specialists move into a 300,000 sq ft advanced manufacturing facility at Brinsworth.

Knight Frank's building consultancy team project managed the move - taking the worry away from the 320-strong firm from the outset by sourcing, surveying and developing the impressive new headquarters.

Partner at Knight Frank's Sheffield office, Jonathan Ingleby, who heads up the building consultancy team, said: "We have been involved in this exciting project from the very beginning. The first stage was looking at what the business requires and there were then a number of tasks for us to focus on.

"MTL Group wanted the right space to house the company's state of the art equipment and that would provide space for continued expansion.

"We had a role in undertaking space planning duties, completing a pre-acquisition survey of the new building, writing and agreeing specification with the developer and budget planning. Then there were stages including agreeing costs for fit-out work, sourcing and specifying materials and monitoring and administering the works as they progress.

"These projects are always a massive undertaking and can take up to several years, but it is extremely rewarding work when we see results at every stage from inception right through to completion."

More than £3m was invested in the infrastructure of the new site by MTL Group to give a high efficiency, low energy facility and 100 jobs will be created by the move.

Managing Director Dr Henry Shirman said: "We have expanded rapidly into new sectors by focusing on customer's requirements and are now a world-leader supplying across the globe so we needed a headquarters to match our customers' needs and ambitions. The strategic investment in the new site allows MTL to more than double in size and to deliver a greater range of services to our customers.

"Knight Frank has been a key player in making sure that we delivered the project on time and within a tight budget. They are easy to deal with, swift to respond with practical advice and provided an excellent sounding board during our commercial negotiations."

MTL Group is a fast growing company that works with a global blue-chip customer base in the defence, construction equipment, rail and off-shore wind energy sectors.

The whole relocation is set to be complete by Easter 2011.

MTL Group website

Images: mtlgrp.com