Regeneration of world famous lock factory site in Willenhall moving at a steady pace

Remaining regeneration of a world famous lock factory site is moving at a steady pace.

The roof is on at the new business start-up unit being built on land once occupied by part of the old Yale Lock Works in Willenhall.

It is being built in Lower Lichfield Street on land at the corner of Wood Street in Willenhall by Welsh property development and investment company Storage Giant Limited.

The plot was once part of Yale and the old works which was demolished about 20 years ago to make way for the renewal of the town centre community including Morrisons supermarket and petrol station off Middle Piece Way.

Around 26 new jobs will be created once the new enterprise style development is completed. It is expected to house start-up business suites alongside a small storage building and parking bays.

Newport-based Storage Giant provides affordable, convenient self-storage across South Wales and England’s western counties.

Walsall Council’s planning committee gave the scheme the green light in 2022, but the long-awaited work only started this year amid town hall moves to build around 200 new homes on other disused factory and derelict sites in nearby Moat Street, Villiers Street, Temple Bar, Cemetery Road, and New Hall Street.

Other major regeneration schemes in Willenhall have included the re-building and opening of the railway station in Bilston Street and the creation of cycle lanes between the town centre and Willenhall Road, which was due to be extended to Wolverhampton.

During the last two-and-a-half decades this part of the town, once the centre of the world famous lock making industry, became rundown as factories and workshops closed, and became a hotspot for arson and antisocial behaviour.