40 jobs created as Associated Waste Management invests £10m in new Leeds depot

Associated Waste Management (AWM) has completed the acquisition of over 200,000 sq ft of warehouse space in Stourton, Leeds.

The sustainable waste resource management and commercial recycling solutions business is converting the warehouse into a depot as part of its continued expansion plans.

AWM will invest a total of £10m in the site with an additional £5m in recycling equipment and £2.5m in more collection vehicles for both trade and skip waste.

Set to open in July 2016, the depot will create 40 news jobs at the company, and will include the refurbishment of the site over the first four-year term of the 20-year lease.

Gordons commercial property partner, Simon Mydlowski, advised AWM on acquiring the space in a deal planned and negotiated over the past 12 months.

AWM, which has a turnover of £45m and employs in excess of 250 full time staff, is headquartered on Gelderd Road, Leeds, less than three miles from the new site.

Tim Shapcott, commercial director of AWM, commented: “The Stourton facility acquisition is the result of a number of significant contract awards for AWM over the past 24 months, culminating in the need for greater levels of innovation and processing capacity.

“It is a key element of our continued expansion plans, so we are very pleased that it has been successfully completed.

“Simon and his team at Gordons have helped us on numerous property deals over the past 18 months, so we had no doubt they would provide us practical, commercially astute advice.

They excelled themselves on this project, favourably negotiating a complex deal involving a number of parties whilst simultaneously coordinating various consultants regarding the site’s refurbishment.“

AWM buys, processes and recycles all grades of paper, plastic, metals, wood, textiles, bricks and rubble, glass, food and organic fractions, using any non-recyclable items for energy recovery. In 2015, the company ranked in the top 10 exporters of energy from waste, producing 180,000 tonnes of refuse derived fuel which supplied combined heat and power plants both in the UK and Europe.

The Stourton facility is licensed to process 200,000 tonnes per year giving AWM a total of 875,000 tonnes of permitted waste and recycling activities annually.

Gordons’ Simon Mydlowski said: “In terms of size, this is a significant property transaction for the Yorkshire region. It is also a letting of huge importance to AWM as the company continues to grow its operations and scope of activity.

“The acquisition means the business is now ideally placed enter its next phase of expansion and we look forward to continuing to work with the senior management team to help make this happen.”

Gordons has offices in Leeds and Bradford, employs 235 people and has a turnover of £22.5m.

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