Former Hovis bakery site in Wigan sold for housing

The site of a former Hovis crumpet and bread bakery has been sold to house-builder Taylor Wimpey.

Around 180,000 sq ft of industrial buildings on the 11-acre site in Cale Lane, a mile-and-a-half outside Wigan city centre, are to be demolished and replaced with a range of housing types.

Acting on behalf of Hovis, the site has been sold by property agent CBRE after the firm secured outline planning permission for the redevelopment of the site for up to 149 new homes. Construction work is set to start in autumn 2018, with new homes due to go on sale in November.

“Located within an established residential neighbourhood, the site in Aspull is ideally suited for the new development,” said Bernadette McQuillan, director at CBRE’s Manchester office.

The workforce at the Wigan bakery had been reduced a number of times in recent years, with the site finally closing last year.

Last month, Hovis division Rank Hovis Milling announced it would be selling bakery ingredients suppliers Holgran and Fleming Howden to AB Mauri. Hovis said the move was part of its strategy to focus on its baking and milling business.