Edinburgh-based Almondale Investments has secured a major industrial letting that will take the UK's largest independent sheet and plate stockholding company to Lanarkshire.

Yorkshire-based Eterniti Steels has agreed a three-year lease on Units E and F at

Almondale's Europark Industrial Estate at Mossend near Bellshill. The properties extend to 30,000 sq ft of high bay factory accommodation with an acre of storage land. The quoting rent for the properties was £2.50 per sq ft..

Europark is located literally across the road from the former CORUS service centre and plate profiling mill, which closed earlier year with the loss of 78 jobs.

The Scottish operation of Eterniti Steels is currently based at Loanhead, near Edinburgh, but this will now be concentrated in Mossend.

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Colliers CRE and D M Hall acted for Almondale Investments (Eterniti Steels was unrepresented). Iain Davidson of Colliers said: "We are delighted to have secured such a well established tenant as Eterniti Steels at Europark who were attracted to the estate by its strategic location within the heart of Lanarkshire and by the flexible approach adopted by our clients.

"While market conditions remain challenging we are encouraged by the fact that the deal was concluded within weeks of our instructions to market the property. Indeed our marketing brochure was still at the printers."

Iain Mercer, group managing director, Almondale Investments, said: "This letting proves that if you are prepared to be flexible there are deals to be done at the right price despite us being in a deep recession. We are thrilled to have Eterniti Steels signed up who we are sure will be good for the area."

Almondale Investments and it sister company, Cosmopolitan Investments, has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Lanarkshire. Cosmopolitan's flagship project in the county, Innovation Park at Bellshill, is a 70,000 sq ft office development whose tenants include the Guardian Newspaper Group, Balfour Beatty and Lloyds banking group.