STOBART Group has unveiled plans to expand its Widnes container terminal in a move that could create 1,000 new jobs.

Stobart took over Widnes-based O’Connor Group in August, and announced plans to build more than 1m sq ft of warehousing space and bring 1,000 jobs to Halton.

It won planning permission for that development in December and is now in negotiations with “blue-chip” retailers who want to create distribution hubs there.

Now Stobart has bought anoth-er 47 acres next to its existing site, and plans to develop between 2m and 2.4m sq ft of warehousing.

Steve O’Connor, chief executive of the O’Connor Group and the man responsible for the Widnes site, says when the complex is up and running it could employ another 1,000 people. He expects the development would create many indirect jobs.

The firm would not reveal the investment value but it is set to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

Mr O’Connor said: “The ration-ale for reporting 1,000 jobs in August was pretty conservative.

“There might be 1,000 jobs again if this warehouse gets built. You can be sure this business isn’t buying this land not to build this warehousing.

“There’s a supposition about warehousing and transport that there aren’t many high-quality jobs, when there are actually a lot of management positions that will be created.” The new 47-acre site was owned by chemical company Tessenderlo, which employed more than 70 people.

Mr O’Connor said he hoped negotiations on the first warehouse development would be completed “in the near future”.

He said: “They are protracted negotiations because when you deal with the size of retailer that can take 1m sq ft of space you are talking about a long-term commitment. We believe that bringing in our first retailer will generate enormous interest, and other companies won’t want to miss out on that opportunity.”

Warrington-based Eddie Stobart announc-ed in August it was merging with property and ports firm West-bury and buying the O’Connor Group in a £138m deal.

The merged Stobart Group yesterday said it traded strongly in the 12 months to December 31, in line with expectations.

Since the merger, O’Connor had increas-ed the Widnes site capa-city from 4,400 contain-er spaces to 6,200 and said it was outperform-ing its original budget forecasts.

alistairhoughton