Member Article

Billingham "eyesore" bought by Fujifilm subsidiary

The site of the former ICI headquarters in Billingham on Belasis Avenue has been bought by neighbouring FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies.

Billingham House was home to ICI’s headquarters and became vacant in 1995 and was bought by Bizzy B Management Ltd in 2000.

It then lay derelict for several years, becoming a regular target for vandals and arsonists before the Council stepped in and took control of the building in 2010.

The Council planned to press ahead with pulling it down, but Bizzy B took the battle to London’s Court of Appeal arguing it had viable revamp plans for the building.

A Court of Appeal ruling in May 2012 finally cleared the way for dismantling to begin, much to the delight of local residents.

Seimi Satake, Chief operating officer at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, added: “We are pleased to have been able to buy this land with a medium to long term view of further expansion of our business and facilities. Our current multiple R&D, manufacturing and support facilities are on a site on the other side of Belasis Avenue that is landlocked with limited room for further expansion. Being able in the future to develop the newly purchased land will be hugely beneficial in terms of logistics, communications and integration.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .