Bike firm gears up for Birmingham expansion plans

Plans for a listed bicycle distributor to expand its Birmingham footprint with a new development look set to advance next week.Earlier this year, Tandem Group acquired a freehold on approximately 3.23 acres of land adjacent to its existing site in Castle Bromwich for a cash consideration of £2.85m.It subsequently submitted plans for a new warehouse covering 81,300 sq ft, with a number of buildings also set to be demolished.Elsewhere, the existing 70-space car park would also be reconfigured to provide 64 spaces with six for motorcyclesWhen the site was acquired, Tandem noted that the construction would be expected to hit approximately £3.5m and would be financed by means of a new property term loan envisaged to be approximately £2.35m, also with the intention of repaying over ten years.If backed, the expansion would more than double the company’s warehouse capacity in the city.The application is set to go before Birmingham City Council’s planning committee on 23 December, with a report drawn up ahead of the meeting noting that the proposal constitutes “an appropriate use and form of development which would have a positive effect on the Core Employment Area”.Tandem Group Cycles is behind a number of historic brands such as Dawes, Claud Butler and Falcon.