Wrexham Industrial Estate
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The Wrexham Industrial Estate is the largest industrial estate in north Wales, near the town of Wrexham.
The Wrexham Industrial Estate had its origins as an Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Wrexham, during the World War II. The factory made explosives and the buildings were spread over a large area. It is the tenth largest industrial estate in Europe, and many companies are staged there, such as Kellogg's, JCB, Cytec, Ball Packaging and Pirelli Cables. There are over 300 businesses on Wrexham Industrial Estate and in the surrounding area. Most are sponsored by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), as an incentive to stay there, as a scheme first introduced to counter the effects of the negative equity trap and depression Wrexham suffered in the 1960s and 1970s.
It covers about 5.5 square kilometres of land and caters for 300 businesses. It employs more than 7,000 staff, and geographically speaking, is Europe's tenth largest Industrial estate. Access is provided through many major B roads. To rectify this, there is currently a scheme to complete a Dual carriageway straight into the industrial estate, and therefore increase accessibility, and promote growth. In February 2005, the Welsh Assembly Government granted £1 million to complete the dual carriageway to the industrial estate, bypassing a small village. There are currently large plot of land for sale around the estate, in the hope that more businesses will arrive.
The Estate was originally built as an Explosive ROF during the second World War to produce Cordite. The site was chosen for its distance from European bombers while having good rail networks and a rural location that provided a good supply of labour but in a wide spread area. Many of the original buildings can still be seen today and still house smaller businesses on the estate.
[edit] Getting there
The Estate is no longer located near a rail line. The closest railway line was the Wrexham to Ellesmere Railway, part of the Cambrian Railway, it was closed in the 1960s as a result of the Beeching Axe, and was closed before the estate was opened. People in the local area have suggested building a rail link to the estate, from a new junction at Gresford, as the artificial embankment carrying the Wrexham to Ellesmere line has long been dismantled, terraformed and built on, however, others argue a heavy rail link could provoke large, pollutant industries. The closest railway station to date is Wrexham General, and it is roughly a ten minute drive by taxi. There are buses that run from the town and service the housing estate of Pentre Maelor on a regular basis. The Industrial Estate is approximately one hour from Manchester or Liverpool Airports and there is a local chauffeur company, that is based on the Internet, which is ideal for such journeys.
