Industrial estate revamp begins

Work is set to begin on the regeneration of an industrial estate in Northamptonshire.

Six old units at the Royal Oak estate in Daventry will be demolished on Monday to make way for a £4.5m office and manufacturing headquarters.

It will be let to hydraulic tools specialist, Hi-Force, which is currently based in two buildings.

The development is funded by Daventry District Council and is expected to take nine months to complete.

The building will have a section of "green" roof, to harvest rainwater and provide water heated by the sun.

It will also have double the amount of floor space as Hi-Force's current base, the council said.

Chris Over, portfolio holder for economic, regeneration and employment, added: "Many of the units in the Royal Oak industrial estate date back to the 1960s and replacing them with a modern, purpose-built building will further help Daventry attract employers and investment in these tough economic times."

In 2007, the council completed a three-year project to revamp part of the former Middlemarch industrial estate in Daventry.