Swinburne Maddison LLP (Swinburne Maddison), Durham City’s leading law firm, has acted in the preparation of a 15-year lease agreement for a Sunderland-based power systems specialist in its move to larger premises.
Armah Switchgear Ltd (Armah) has taken 41,000 sq ft of space at the £80m, Hillthorn Business Park in Washington, a Sunderland City Council development, as part of a move to grow the business and expand the team.
Armah is one of the most well-known switchgear specialists in the UK and has worked on some major projects including The Shard, in London; Goodison Park, home of Everton Football Club; floodlighting on the Tyne Bridge and the Pilgrim’s Quarter in Newcastle city centre.
Its directors believe that the larger facilities will enable ‘exponential’ growth of the company.
Swinburne Maddison’s commercial property partner, Gillian Moir, completed the necessary legal work, liaising with all parties.
Gillian said: “We were delighted with this instruction – our first from Armah – to assist with the firm’s ambitious move to much larger premises. The lease was granted out of a head lease, which in turn was granted out of a superior lease, so all documents needed to be completed carefully and in turn.
“This was a significant lease agreement with a 15-year term and a rent of £289,000 per annum. Along with the extra floor space in the warehouse, which benefits from 12m eaves and 50kN per sq ft floor loading, there are also 3,300 sq ft of offices on the first floor, so it has all the makings of an ideal base for the firm in the years ahead. The new facility will also enable Armah to accommodate its successful apprenticeship programme.
“We worked strongly as a team throughout. The building was still under construction and until it reached practical completion, the lease could not be finalised, so there were quite a few delays along the way. We have developed an effective working relationship with the Armah team, so I hope there will be many more times we can work together in the future.”
Alan Hawkins founded Armah 33 years ago along with Andrew Mayo. The business has been growing consistently throughout that time and Alan had been looking for new premises for a while. He was approached last year by Sunderland City Council and its Hillthorn Business Park development was suggested as an option, which is very close to the current location of Armah at Glover West Industrial Estate.
Armah Switchgear Ltd (Armah) had initially planned to move into the new premises swiftly after exchanging the Agreement for Lease but hold ups with construction of the building caused some delays. Alan said:
“Our turnover has risen considerably over the last twelve months, and we are exceptionally busy with some prestigious projects at the present time. Our new premises will enable us to phase production more appropriately and then Armah can grow exponentially while projecting a more modern and professional image to visitors and clients.
“As part of the move, we are investing in new, modern equipment for storage and will also be upgrading some of our production tooling. The current headcount is 60 and we will be looking to increase that gradually over the next few years with our apprentice school providing some natural growth.”
Speaking about the timing of the move, he added: “This has been a longer project to conclude than anticipated and the team at Swinburne Maddison have been excellent from the outset, supporting us through the contractual issues and patiently staying with us right to the end. They have been exceptional to work with and their advice has been very enlightening for someone like me who is relatively inexperienced in such matters.”
