Distillery site sold for £5.25m

THE site of Warrington’s famous G&J Greenall distillery has changed hands in a £5.25 million deal.
Commercial property investment company Saturon Ltd has acquired the 105,000 sq ft site at Clayton Road, Birchwood from the Norwich Union Life Pensions Fund Ltd.
The deal has been part financed by the Royal Bank of Scotland property finance team in Liverpool, who have provided Saturon with a £2.6 million funding package.
Hotel group De Vere lease the site which houses the company’s G&J Greenall gin and vodka distillery, which produces more than 6.5 million cases of gin and vodka every year.
De Vere signed a 10-year lease on the site in 2007 and has invested £3 million to create a modern, state-of-the-art distillery.
The distillery replaces an earlier one in Loushers Lane, Warrington, which was destroyed in a disastrous fire in 2005 – probably the biggest fire in the town in modern times.
Gin production in Warrington dates back to 1761 when Thomas Dakin opened a distillery on Bridge Street. This was subsequently acquired by Lancashire brewer Edward Greenall who founded G&J Greenall in 1860.
Vodka has also been produced by the company for many years and helped put the town on the map in the late 60s and early 70s with its famous marketing campaign for “Vodka from Varrington.”
Saturon is a commercial property investment company which owns and manages several industrial properties throughout the UK.
Managing director Paul Ashley said: “This is an excellent, modern site that offers us good opportunity for capital growth. We are always looking for opportunities to add quality sites to our property portfolio and are very pleased to have concluded this transaction.”
Andrea Kelly, relationship manager at RBS, said: “Paul is an experienced investor with a good knowledge of the UK’s industrial property sector. The acquisition will enhance the range of properties that Saturon presently hold in its portfolio.”