Move to one site spells the end of firm’s town base
A COMPANY that has been tackling air pollution for nearly 140 years has shut its office in Burton.
Lodge Cottrell has shut its office in Hawkins Lane as part of a move to bring all its operations under one roof in Oldbury, near Sandwell, in the Black Country.
A spokesperson from the company confirmed that the Burton office was a satellite office and that the main office was in Halesowen, with the number of people working at the Burton site “varying”.
They also confirmed that there were no job losses and that workers would be moved to the new office in the Black Country.
The company’s new base has 10,463 sq ft of space split between warehousing and offices and provides a central base for the company. Led by managing director Kevin Bridgewater, the company employs a core team of 35, expanding to as many as 200 agency staff during peak periods.
Mr Bridgewater said: “Due to market forces and how the company has evolved and diversified over several years, we decided to take a golden opportunity and source a larger, suitably configured base for our various activities.
“We had our headquarters in an office block in Halesowen, a site at Burton and warehousing at Old Hill in Cradley Heath.
“It made sense to bring us all together on one site that would take us into the next 100 years.”
Lodge Fume Deposit Company was founded in Birmingham in 1913 by Professor Sir Oliver Lodge who in 1883 invented the electrostatic precipitation method of removing dust particles still used today. The business name changed to Lodge Cottrell in 1922 and is now owned by its long-standing parent company KC Green Holdings, a large conglomerate based in South Korea.
The deal to move into the property in Oldbury was brokered by Birmingham-based property agency Siddall Jones.
Managing director Edward Siddall-jones said: “This modern unit on the Sandwell Green industrial estate, part of Oldbury’s wider commercial area, was clearly ideal for Lodge Cottrell’s needs.
“It provides the space to bring together the operations from the three existing sites and will provide the prestigious platform the company needs as it moves into the future, building on its historic past.”