A DISTRIBUTION company could soon move to a major Bradford business site - creating 60 jobs.

Touch Global, based in Lincoln, has announced plans to open a new storage and distribution facility off Rook Lane, the site of a business that is soon to close its Bradford operations.

This summer Royal Sanders, which manufacturers personal care products, announced it is transferring all its business to its Preston plant.

It would mean the loss of around 160 jobs in Bradford, with the site shut-down expected early next year.

The factory was known as McBride until late last year, when Royal Sanders took over the firm.

But now the company has submitted a planning application to change the use of its 6,255 square metre factory in Dudley Hill from a mix of industrial, office and storage use to storage and distribution use.

The application says the change will allow Touch Global to take on the site as part of its expansion across the UK.

A letter from the company included in the application says: “Touch Global is committed to making new employment opportunities available to local people living in Bradford.

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“We will not be re-location employees from our main warehouse and office premises in Lincoln - we want to give back to the local area and communities.

“We are committed to the creation of at least 60 jobs, comprising 50 warehouse operative roles and 10 managerial and administration roles.

“In addition we will also be recruiting for customer service/technical roles once the warehouse is fully operational and orders are being processed - we expect this to be within six months from operations commencing on site in mid-2020.”

It says the company required a site close to the M606, and may lease any surplus space at the site to other businesses.

The letter concludes: “We are excited about the opportunity to bring our business operations to Bradford, and to inject new investment into the city.

“Our business operations will also create supply chain opportunities primarily within the courier sector, and which in turn will hopefully aid the generation of more jobs for local people.”

The planning application says as well as helping take some of the sting out of the Royal Sanders job losses, the plans will “Safeguard an existing employment site from alternative uses, as opposed to the previously undeveloped and allocated employment land to the immediate south of the site which has instead been developed for housing, whilst meeting an identified need for the prospective occupier.”

The plans will mainly involve internal alterations to the main building on the site, with minimal external alterations.

The application adds: “The proposed use of the site would support the function of the employment zone as a predominantly commercial area and generate some environmental improvements through a reduction in vehicle movements associated with the current use of the site.”

A decision on the application is expected to be made by the Council in March.