New owners for Mid Wales factory abandoned for nine years

Yorkshire-based family-run firm West Yorkshire Fellmongers has confirmed it has bought the former factory in Carno, which was Laura Ashley's base of manufacturing and provided hundreds of jobs for 38 years before it closed in 2005.

The news has sparked hopes of new jobs for the village and a boost in the campaign to re-open Carno Railway Station.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fellmongers said: "We are part of an international leather group processing leather for the garment and accessory trade and the company is delighted to have acquired the site in Carno."

Jeremy Barnes, a community councillor in Carno and chairman of Carno Station Action Group, hailed the sale as a potential boost for the village.

He said: "It has been bought by a family business who own West Yorkshire Fellmongers, the Byrne family, and I am in discussions with them now regarding the station building, which is part of the site.

"We are moving ahead so I think we will move much more quickly now we have someone who can take a decision almost on the spot.

"It could bring jobs to the area and we hope it does."

It is understood that a refurbishment of the site is planned to host the fellmongering business and that parts will be rented out to other companies.

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies, who was chairman of Development Board for Rural Wales during Laura Ashley's 1980s heyday, said he would be speaking to the new owners to ascertain their intentions for the site.

He said: "I understand it has been bought which is something we have been looking for for a long time but it is important that any usage on the site fits in with the village setting of Carno.

"I will be looking to an early discussion with the purchasers to out what their ideas are for developing the site."

Mr Davies welcomed the sale but said any use needs to be "sensitive" to its close proximity to housing.

He said: "At one stage, not only was it a huge employer in Carno, it was the centre of the Laura Ashley empire in Mid Wales and it is still a very important site and its dereliction damages the general area, but it is very close to a lot of houses and needs to be used in a way that is suitable for that particular environment.

"We are desperate to see the site developed and desperate to see it create employment in Carno but it has has to be done in a way that does not have a negative impact on the village."

West Yorkshire Fellmongers is the UK's largest supplier of selected Lambskins and Sheepskins and handles more than 120,000 lambskins and sheepskins in the UK and Ireland every week.

A spokesman for Laura Ashley said: "We can confirm that they have now completed the sale of their former factory site located in Carno, Powys."