An old pharmaceutical plant in South Gloucestershire once owned by pharma giant AstraZeneca is being sold off.
The 100-acre Avlon Works site on Severn Road was closed last year when then-owner pharmaceutical company Avara went into administration.
The land and buildings have been put up for sale by joint administrators David Rubin and Partners, a brochure on a commercial property website states.
The entire site is up for sale, according to the Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) website.
The property is being advertised as freehold and and includes a mixture of old warehouse, workshop, office and laboratory buildings.
The site is within a “safeguarded area for economic development” under South Gloucestershire Council rules, Bristol Live's sister website Business Live reports.
This means any developments that contribute to the “regeneration, sustainable development and job creation” will be supported by the council.
It is not known how much the site is being sold for.
Closure of Avlon Works
Avlon Works, which was in operation from 1969 to 2019, was sold by AstraZeneca to Avara Pharmaceuticals for £1 in 2016.
The deal came with stipulations, including a guarantee that if Avara fell into administration within three years all the staff would be protected - and would receive a redundancy pay out by AstraZeneca.
When Avara collapsed in February last year, AstraZeneca initially refused to pay the money. But after coming under enormous pressure from workers’ union Unite and a number of MPs, AstraZeneca agreed to pay £12million to its ex-workers.
The payment was placed into an independent fund and the money separated from other creditors.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said last year: “We have decided to set aside funding of up to £12million, to be administered independently, to make sure our former employees at the Avalon site receive full severance should the ongoing administration of the site not generate enough funds to cover redundancy costs.
“AstraZeneca remained closely involved in helping secure a future for the Avlon site following the sale to Avara, which was made in good faith in 2016.”
