A FORMER warehouse and transport depot which belonged to one of the oldest businesses in the Forest is set to be transformed into a multi-million pound business park.

The 12.46-acre Richard Read (Transport) site in Longhope has been sold to Gloucestershire investors Dr Roger Head OBE and Jim Ruddy.

Richard Read, which announced its closure after 73 years in business last March, had used the site as a strategic warehouse and distribution site for more than 60 years.

Set on the A4136, 14 miles from the M5 and seven miles from the M50, the site includes 70,000 sq ft of warehousing and industrial units and office space, along with large areas of hardstanding and parking.

A spokesperson for national property consultancy Bruton Knowles, which handled the sale, said the new owners will also benefit from 5.32 acres of expansion land which already has outline planning consent for commercial uses, plus a detached three storey, five-bedroom residential property.

Roger Head revealed: “As local investors, we saw the potential of the site, and intend to start as soon as possible on what will be a multi-million pound refurbishment.

“We will be offering refurbished and new units from 1,500 sq ft upwards. We already own a number of industrial estates and are pleased to add this to our portfolio.”

The new Longhope Business Park is to be headed up by company director Grant Ruddy who joins Head Ruddy Ltd after 15 years’ experience with Barnwood Construction.

Family firm Richard Read blamed disappointing financial results in 2018 due to “shrinking margins and a rising overhead” for its decision to close.

Founded by Richard Read and his wife Amelia in 1946, they bought their first truck for £350 to haul stone to build the Gloucester Ring Road, and their trucks went on to become some of the most recognisable in the country.

Richard’s business was influenced by the success of his father who had been hauling since 1913, and when he returned from the Royal Navy after the Second World War, he launched his own business.

In 1959, the relationship between British truck manufacturer ERF and Richard Read came into being when they bought their first articulated tractor unit, and during the 1960s Richard and Amelia ran a fleet of 87 vehicles.

As well as general haulage, the firm provided warehousing, with 146,000sq ft of storage space spread across two sites in Cinderford and Longhope.

It also developed a heavy vehicle recovery service, as well as an ATF facility and Richard Read Commercials, a MAN truck sales, parts and service centre.

Hundreds of tributes from family, friends and former employees were paid to Richard when he died in 2014 aged 89, just months after his wife’s passing.

The father-of-five was carried to the church on the back of the first ERF ever built – ERF 1, which the family described as “a fitting tribute for a man who was ERF through and through.”

Robert Smith, from Bruton Knowles’ Glou- cester office, said: “The former owners wish the purchasers every success for the future with their plans for the property.

“The site has huge potential and with Roger Head and Jim Ruddy at its helm, it has a very exciting future ahead becoming a new business park.”