Building down to make way for expansion

The front half of the old Selectrix building has been demolished to create car parks for SMS Engineering, which has expanded into the other half of the building

Going, going, gone ...

On Monday, a 35-tonne digger slowly and steadily demolished the front half of what was the Selectrix building on Broadway, next to the Z petrol station.

Building owner Chris Betts says the demolition is to create car parking space for clients of his business, SMS Engineering.

He bought the building last year with a clear plan.

"We have now doubled the floorspace we have available, with SMS Engineering now using both our original building next door, and the back half of the Selectrix building. The front has been cleared for car parking and enables us to give the building a new, modern frontage."

The sign outside SMS Engineering advertises total engineering solutions.

"We do all sorts of work for a huge range of businesses. We have a lot of national clients as well as plenty of local ones, from the local council through to large dairying businesses for example, as well as catering to the needs of individual local farmers."

The new space will be used in part to house the custom-built trailers SMS has gained a name for building, he adds.

SMS Engineering started in 2008 and Chris says it has grown steadily from day one.

"We employ about 10 staff, most of them are from Stratford and the increased space we now have means we can continue to grow."

While Chris and his team were on hand to watch the demolition on Monday, so were plenty of onlookers, including four-year-old Ash Bellamy, who was enjoying a hot chocolate as he watched the digger at work.

"I like seeing the digger pull down the building," he said as he settled in to watch for a couple of hours.