Eurocentral
Eurocentral is one of the largest industrial estates in Scotland situated on the edge of Holytown and Mossend, North Lanarkshire, just off the A8/M8 motorway, about 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow city centre and 34 miles (55 km) west of Edinburgh. The nearest communities to the estate are Holytown, Mossend, Chapelhall, Calderbank and Carnbroe. The closest major towns are Bellshill 4 miles (6.4 km), Motherwell 4 miles (6.4 km), Coatbridge 4 miles (6.4 km) and Airdrie 4.5 miles (7.2 km).
There is a bus link to and from Glasgow city centre and Livingston,West Lothian. Eurocentral has warehouse distribution centres, factories, call centres,a railfreight centre which links with Grangemouth docks 28 miles (45 km) to the north east, England to the south and beyond to mainland Europe. The estate also has a large modern hotel/restaurant(Dakota). One of the landmarks of the Eurocentral are the so called Big heids (Big heads) which are three red upturned shipping containers with tubes making the shape of human heads.
The Maxim Office Park is a recent addition opening in March 2010. With 10 buildings totalling over 756,000 sq ft (70,200 m2). built in a single phase, Maxim is also the UK’s largest speculatively built office park.
Eurocentral factory
Eurocentral was the name given to a former factory near Holytown in North Lanarkshire, Scotland operated by the Taiwanese television parts manufacturer Chunghwa Picture Tubes. The building is sometimes referred to as The Chunghwa Factory. The factory is infamous because it was built using large amounts of tax payers money but was demolished within 10 years.
Originally designed as a factory to produce Cathode Ray Tubes for use in television sets and monitors, the rapid rise in popularity of LCD and Plasma televisions contributed to the huge losses made by the Chunghwa company. It is also reported that a huge water rate bill from West of Scotland Water also helped contribute to the eventual demise of the site. Opening in 1996 the factory was expected to create 3,000 local jobs. However employment never rose above 1,200 and the factory was empty by 2003. The company was forced to repay 8m of the 20m pounds it received from the government.
The factory was demolished and the site developed into a mixed use commercial and business park.For more detailed information on the Eurocentral today read below.
Sources
- "Chungwha Factory - The Parr Partnership, Eurocentral"
- "Chunghwa factory demolition starts"
- "Chunghwa plant sold in (pounds) 300m deal; Tritax deal to redevelop"
External links
Coordinates: 55°49′53″N 3°58′46″W / 55.83147°N 3.97937°W