Coventry’s 100-acre Ansty Park has emerged as the favoured location for a £150m factory to build the next generation of London black taxis.
Geely, the Chinese carmaker whose subsidiary Manganese Bronze Holdings – trading as The London Taxi Company – has built the famous cabs since 1948, is close to announcing a new factory to be built to make the upgraded version of the cabs, the TX5, which are due to roll out of the plant in 2018.
The UK government has worked closely with Geely over the past year to net the major inward investment and has offered a number of potential sites across the country. Technology and innovation park Ansty is believed to be the preferred option, owing to its proximity to the existing Manganese Bronze Holdings headquarters on Holyhead Road in Coventry.
A formal decision is expected before May.
If a deal goes ahead, the new factory is likely to be built on remaining development land to the south of the phase 2 area at Ansty Park, which is owned by the Homes and Communities Agency and located next to junction 2 of the M6. Phase 2 will comprise six buildings ranging in size from 34,000 sq ft to 90,000 sq ft.
The HCA is working with development partner Highbridge Properties to provide 1.5m sq ft of office and industrial space when the park is fully completed. Existing tenants include Sainsbury’s, which has a 136,000 sq ft store support centre on the park, and the 120,000 sq ft Manufacturing Technology Centre.
A £30m aerospace research centre adjacent to the MTC is also proposed as well as a 65,000 sq ft research centre to be built as a joint collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce.
Jonathan Browning, chairman of Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, said: “This would be outstanding news for Coventry and Warwickshire. Geely has had the choice of several locations across the UK, so it is certainly not a foregone conclusion purely because of the ties between the London taxi maker and this area.
“A great deal of work has taken place to sell the multiple advantages of establishing the facility in this area.
“Coventry and Warwickshire are very much the driving force of advanced manufacturing and engineering in the UK, and this news further underlines the capabilities we have in the sector.”
Geely rescued Manganese from administration in 2012.
The Chinese giant, which already owned a 20% stake, bought the London Taxi Company’s principal assets and trade from the administrator in order to save the business and continue the production of taxis in Coventry.
