Rhodia Group ltd.

The Rhodia Group produced microbial enzymes for the food and industrial industry, the site of there factory based at Woodley is actually the old Unity Mill which dates back to the 1800s when it was originaly used as a textile mill.

The factory covers 16 acres and until 2002 when Rhodia finally closed the gates, the site housed 148 staff which worked in the food prep labs and office buildings.

The mill started life as a chemical company back in 1949 when the site was aquired by Norman Evans & Reis and since then has been occupied by various chemical companies.

In 1973 the site was took over by the Dalgety Food Group and renamed ABM Chemicals then in 1986 was taken over again by RTZ Chemicals which in 1989 merged to Become Rhone Poulenc ltd.

1990 seen Rhone Poulenc condensed all its operations and renamed the site Rhodia, where it also housed its Northern Administration Centre.

Over the years the site has produced Textiles to starter cultures and enzymes, to the UK and Ireland Dairy industry as well as detergents and penecillin.

The factory finally closed in 2002 and is currenlty up for sale for £1,750,000.

It will be curious to know if the next company that take over the site will produce or use chemicals as the site has always been or associated with this type of work.

I have known about this site for years and have seen it fully operational back in the 1980s when it was called ABM Chemicals, back then access was not possible as the factory was always occupied, I often wondered what it would be like in there and now 22 years later I finally got to find out!

Since seeing this place in its hey day I have only ever been back twice, the first return was to see if the place was still active and fortunatley for us it wasn`t

The place is exactly how I remembered it with only the gate sign changed to the last company name, inside is quite big with some fantastic steel structures still in place, apart from that and a few bits and bobs the rest of the site is quite bare now.

My second return was to show Romanian 1, Gibbo, Lawrence and Saul_Son, The New Mendoza and DCG the site, whilst exploring the rear of the factory we found some old photos and tax returns dating back to the 1920s.