Sheffield manufacturer confirms location for £1m expansion plans

A Sheffield-based sports and performance exhausts manufacturer is expanding into new premises in the city as part of ambitious £1m growth plans.

Cobra Sport, which makes and supplies stainless steel exhausts for high-end motor sports, is based near Meadowhall and has bought a new purpose-built 6,000 sq ft unit on the Turner Business Park, just off The Parkway.

Turner Investments Limited (TIL) handed over the built property last month and Cobra is currently completing the fit out of the unit on Handsworth Road which will allow it to expand both its exhaust range and the company’s growing research and development team.

The site will also allow Cobra to build on its green commitments with a focus on reducing non-recyclable packaging material, and look at renewable energy generation across both its sites using solar PV. 95 per cent of Cobra Sport’s exhausts are already made from recycled stainless steel.

Sheffield’s Wake Smith Solicitors acted for TIL with commercial property director Neil Salter handling the disposal. NatWest provided the funding package.

Neil Salter, head of the commercial property team at Wake Smith, said: “We have a very well-established relationship with Turners from back to 2001 and were delighted to act on this important transaction for them.

“The deal sees the end of TIL’s involvement in Turner Business Park which has resulted in a transformation of the site over the last 12 years including disposals to and development by household names Aldi, McDonalds and Greene King.”

Rachel Abbott, managing director at Cobra Sport, said: “As the business has grown over the last few years, we’ve been keen to expand our specialist engineering skill-set beyond automotive products.

“As this ambition has moved closer to reality, it’s become increasingly important that we secure a new a new site that would allow us the physical space to expand our product offering, so we can meet our current needs and our future ambitions for growth. It was a pleasure to work with Jon Vardy of TIL who kept us informed all the way through the process and we’re delighted with the premises.”

Jon Vardy from Turner Investments Limited added: “We’re very pleased to have delivered the final phase of this scheme and it’s been a pleasure working with the team at Cobra. We wish them all the best with the further growth of the business.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily