Birmingham factory firm 'surprised to hear it may leave site'

The company has been at Great Tindal Street in Birmingham for 28 years

A long standing Birmingham business said it was a "surprise" to find out it was in a demolition zone.

Hardware manufacturer Frank Allart discovered it was on the site of a planned redevelopment in Ladywood, when an employee brought in a letter.

The firm, which housed the Birmingham Bull before it moved to its new home, said it had not heard from the council and had "no reason" to move.

The authority and developers St Joseph have been contacted by the BBC.

The plans for a £2.2bn regeneration of Ladywood Estate would involve bulldozing many of the almost 2,000 homes and replacing them with 7,000 new ones.

There has been anger over the project as some residents said they had learned from press articles that homes would be demolished under compulsory purchase orders.

The company, which makes "fine English hardware" out of brass, has been at Great Tindal Street for 28 years but in Birmingham for much longer.

The factory is in the first phase of a planned transformation of the estate, with its future set to be clarified in the coming months, Birmingham Live reported.

New machines

Manufacturing director Bill McGrail stated what it discovered was "surprising, but then reading the proposal and sharing it with our legal advisors, you learn none of it is set in stone".

He added: "It's one of those council plans that may or may not come to affect us."

Frank Allart said it was one of the largest employers in Ladywood, with many staff living locally, and two new machines costing a total of just under £300,000 had been installed.

The company said it had land that could be used in the future for more factory space if it needed to expand.