J Freeley has recently completed the delicate demolition of buildings on the former Catalent pharmaceutical site on the Wingates Industrial Park in Bolton for new owners, Stateside Foods. This complex project has included the soft strip and deconstruction of an existing building and storage warehouse to make way for a new manufacturing plant and office space.
Formed in 1990, Stateside Foods is a leading manufacturer of chilled pizzas, supplying many of the UK’s major supermarkets with own label products. With a production boasting millions of pizzas a year, the company acquired the former Catalent pharmaceutical premises, consisting of a large storage warehouse and office building, to expand its manufacturing facilities. Known as Wingates II, this site is adjacent to Stateside Foods’ 25-acre head office and factory premises on the industrial park.
The project has involved the deconstruction of the sizeable warehouse and the partial demolition of the office building to construct an extension and connect the site’s facilities through a T-shape layout. Our works have spanned three months and involved the removal of plant and additional items such as heavy safes and racking in addition to mezzanine floors, stairs, walls and ceilings from the warehouse before the complete deconstruction of the building’s structural frame.
Around 95% of the materials we removed from the site, such as timber and metal, were recycled, therefore diverting them from landfill.
Meticulous planning by our team was required to ensure the successful part demolition of the existing building. This demanded the careful removal of materials by hand to avoid possible damage and to maintain the remaining building’s stability for the construction of the new section.
Steve Burke from Stateside Foods, commented, “J Freeley were first class. They communicated throughout, were always contactable and kept to the timescale of three months. They were excellent, and when work emerged that hadn’t been included in their scope of works, they carried it out within their existing timeframe.”
Construction of Stateside Foods’ new facility is due to be completed by the end of 2024, and it is expected that the new manufacturing plant will be fully functioning by the first quarter of 2025.
