Roy Durie of Edinburgh-based property consultancy Ryden said the first deal to be concluded would be for Sappis former Transcript carbonless mill at Glenrothes in Fife. "We are now at the final stage of negotiations," he said.

The mill, the closure of which was announced last year with the loss of 203 jobs (PrintWeek, 12 October 2001), covers 30 acres and will be sold for over 2m.

The property consists of the mill site and a number of other buildings, including six separate plots of land totalling over 16 acres.

Durie said it had "considerable potential for residential development", subject to the appropriate planning permission being granted.

In a separate deal, Ryden is also handling the sale of Inveresks Westfield paper mill site at Bathgate.

The 28-acre site is on sale at 500,000, and Durie said there had been literally "hundreds of enquiries".

Again the site has the potential for residential development, and once items of plant and equipment have been removed, vacant possession will be available from early 2003.
The 30,000-tonne-per-year labelstock plant closed in April with the loss of 152 jobs (PrintWeek, 26 April).

Story by Andy Scott