A MAJOR Albury textile manufacturer is shutting up shop after almost 90 years on the same site — but is keeping tight-lipped on what it means for staff.
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It comes amid speculation last week of redundancies at Macquarie Textiles.
Expressions of interest are now open for the long-running manufacturer’s 3.89 hectares of land and buildings in East Street, as advertised on page 18 of today’s paper.
The property, on the market through Stanley & Martin, is advertised as being “offered for sale with vacant possession”.
Macquarie head office did not return calls yesterday to confirm if the long-running business was closing altogether or moving to new premises.
But The Border Mail received calls from members of the public last week who said there had been redundancies at the factory. In response to questions about the redundancies, Macquarie refused to comment.
The textile plant began operating at the site in 1924 under the name Amalgamated Textiles Mills, though the company’s origins date back as far as 1868.
In 1990, it employed up to 400 people, but that number had been dramatically slashed in the past two decades.
In 2008, there were just 68 staff.
Real estate agent Kel Barclay said it was not for him to discuss Macquarie’s intentions.
He confirmed the property was not vacant at present but would be by the time the sale was settled.
The property includes three “substantial” buildings including 9725 square-metres of factory space, 1055 square-metres of office space, 6150 square-metres of warehousing, and 140 car spaces.
It is zoned as general industrial land.
“I believe there’d be a fair amount of interest in it with marketing in the capital cities as well,” he said.
“Sites like this don’t come up that often, it’s a great opportunity to get a property of this size so close to the CBD.”