THE contents of Yate’s former tumble dryer factory have been sold off in an online auction.
Bidders competed for everything from lathes and workbenches to a table football game and even an entire mezzanine floor from the Hotpoint UK plant in Station Road, which closed at the end of last year after more than a century of production.
The online sale lasted three weeks, from mid-February to March, and featured a large amount of working equipment from steamers, printers, plate benders and two-way radios to an entire set of canteen furniture, including 32 tables and more than 100 chairs.
NCM Auctions, which ran the sale on behalf of Hotpoint UK, said it offered “a rare opportunity to acquire specialist equipment from one of Europe’s leading home appliance manufacturers”.
The company’s partnership lead, Amy Rutherford, said: “Our proven approach and commitment to sustainability ensures that these surplus manufacturing assets are reintegrated into the circular economy and diverted from landfill.”
The 15m x 20m (49ft x 66ft) mezzanine floor was among the most expensive items auctioned, finally selling for £4,600, while the table football game went for £110.
NCM did not respond to a request from the Voice to say how much the sale raised in total or what the most expensive item sold was.
Factory site earmarked for 150 homes
Beko Europe, which owns Hotpoint UK, announced plans to shut the factory, with the loss of 142 jobs, last July.
It said the plant had been making a “considerable loss” and that it was not “technically or economically feasible to remodel the Yate site to continue operations.”
The factory stands on the site of the former Parnall aircraft factory, where more than 50 people were killed during two air raids in 1941, and manufacturing on the site goes back around 107 years.
The factory site was bought from Whirlpool by South Gloucestershire Council in 2021 for just under £10 million.
At the time the council said it was “of strategic importance for the town of Yate and South Gloucestershire”.
The Station Road site is earmarked for 150 homes in the latest version of South Gloucestershire Council’s Local Plan.