NPL at Hillhouse: the main landowner, its companies, and what the public record shows
According to Wyre Council and its 2026 Masterplan Review, most of the Hillhouse Technology Enterprise Zone, the former ICI works where AGC Chemicals Europe makes fluoropolymers, is owned or controlled by one private group of companies: NPL. This page sets out what the public record says about it: who NPL is, which of its companies do what on the estate, the permits and consents they hold, its finances as filed, its role in the Enterprise Zone, its stated plans, the sale, and what it has said about contamination. Each statement carries its source. NPL’s own statements are quoted as its claims.
Who NPL is
NPL Group (UK) Ltd is a private company registered in Scotland (SC444462), incorporated on 7 March 2013, with its office at 183 St Vincent Street, Glasgow. Companies House lists an individual as holding 75% or more of its shares.
NPL describes itself as “the UK’s leading group of privately-owned brownfield regeneration, remediation and land development companies”, with “a diverse landbank of 55 sites in the UK and 3 sites in France with a total of 4,800 acres” (about 1,940 hectares). It says the group “was formed … in 1999” and that its business has a “strong covenant to manage liability exits for FTSE 100 companies” (NPL website, “About”, undated, retrieved 14 October 2026).
The group’s last filed accounts, for the year to 31 March 2024, describe its principal activity as “a full cycle land remediation and development business, incorporating landcare and waste management divisions. We acquire sites, remediate them and bring them back into economic use.” Its turnover that year was £36.6 million. The largest items were “Waste Streams Processed” (£19.2 million), “Land sales” (£9.1 million), “Renewable Electricity generation” (£4.4 million) and “Facilities Management Income” (£2.9 million) (note 3). Its website names three divisions: Develop, Energy and Enviro. Sites it names outside Hillhouse include a gas storage project at King Street “in Cheshire” and an 11 MW solar farm “on the former Puriton cellophane landfill” in south west England (NPL website, “Energy” pages, undated).
The group’s finances, as filed
NPL Group’s accounts for the year to 31 March 2024 report “a loss of £9.8m in the year to 31 March 2024 (2023: £13.9m loss)”, and add: “This loss derives predominantly from 2 one off costs”. The same report states: “The group balance sheet remains strong with £38.6m (2023: £47.8m) of net assets with the fall being attributed to the one off, and substantial noncash costs” (strategic report). The group’s stock includes “Land held for development” of £75,476,182 (note 17); the accounts do not say which company holds it or where. In the going-concern note, the directors wrote that “repayment of £17.1m of outstanding debt is due in October 2025” and that “At the date of signing, new facilities have not yet been agreed”, and went on: “The forecasts prepared by the directors assume that the existing term loan facility will be renewed on acceptable terms in the normal course of business and the directors fully expect this to be the case.” The same note records: “During the year, the group breached its cash flow covenant in respect of its £5.8m loan facility due for repayment in 2030. Whilst the bank have reserved their rights in respect of the breach, no action has been taken.” The auditor stated: “we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group’s and parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The group’s next accounts, for the period to 30 March 2025, were due by 30 June 2026; Companies House marks them overdue, as it does those of Thornton Facilities Management, NPL Landcare Holdings, NPL Energy Holdings and Wyre Power (retrieved 14 October 2026).
The accounts of NPL Estates and Hillhouse Remediation for the period to 30 March 2025, filed on 9 October 2026, state: “Subsequent to the year end, the group experienced a number of significant events affecting its operating activities, including the administration of Avondale Environmental Limited, historically the group’s principal trading operation, and the liquidation of a number of entities within the Energy Division. The directors have considered the circumstances giving rise to these events and note that they arose from factors specific to those businesses and are not considered indicative of wider financial difficulties affecting the continuing operations of the group.” They add that “future cash generation is increasingly dependent upon the successful progression and completion of land disposals, property transactions and development opportunities across its portfolio”, and that “Subsequent to the year end, the group completed a significant land disposal, generating net cash proceeds of approximately £3 million to date, with a further £3 million due before March 2027, materially strengthening liquidity and reducing short-term funding risk”. The directors of NPL Group (UK) Limited, giving the support described below, “have concluded that the group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence and to honour its obligations under the Letter of Support”. Each company records that it “has received a formal Letter of Support from NPL Group (UK) Limited”, and that “The auditor’s report was unqualified”.
Avondale Environmental was described in September 2025 as “the operator of a waste management facility and landfill site in Polmont, Falkirk”; administrators were appointed on 2 September 2025 (letsrecycle.com, 22 September 2025), and Companies House lists it as “In Administration”. The accounts do not name the liquidated Energy Division companies. The accounts filed so far do not say whether the £17.1 million due in October 2025 was renewed. Companies House lists Wyre Power Limited and NPL Energy Holdings Ltd as “Active”. Apart from company names and registered addresses, none of the accounts cited here mentions Hillhouse or the Enterprise Zone, and none links these events, or any land disposal, to Hillhouse or to its marketing.
NPL Estates’ balance sheet at 30 March 2025 lists debtors and cash as its only assets; it shows no land, buildings or stock, and net liabilities of £14,512,546, against £14,543,132 a year earlier (“as restated”). As noted above, it relies on the Letter of Support from NPL Group (UK) Ltd, and its auditor’s report was unqualified. The accounts do not say which company in the group holds title to the land at Hillhouse. We have not searched the Land Registry.
The NPL companies at Hillhouse
Several companies in the group have a role at Hillhouse. Companies House shows each of them owned, through one or more holding companies, by NPL Group (UK) Ltd, and the group accounts list each as a subsidiary.
| Company | Role at Hillhouse on the record | Owned 75% or more by |
|---|---|---|
| NPL Estates Ltd. (03505485), incorporated 5 February 1998 | Named by the Enterprise Zone website as having acquired the site in 2003, by the Board progress reports as “Majority landowner”, and by Hillhouse Remediation’s 2011 planning statement as the owner of the former tip and lagoon area | Le-Fylde Estates Ltd (09174448), itself owned by NPL Developments Ltd (08561769), itself owned by NPL Group (UK) Ltd |
| Thornton Facilities Management Limited (“TFM”, 04673430), incorporated 20 February 2003 as Inhoco 2814 Limited | Estate management, roads, utilities and security, according to the Board progress reports; holds three discharge consents for the estate’s outfalls | NPL Landcare Holdings Ltd (SC416888), itself owned by NPL Group (UK) Ltd |
| Hillhouse Remediation Limited (05018025), incorporated 16 January 2004 | Holds the permit for a former ICI landfill and lagoon area on the estate | Brownfield Land Holdings Limited (04673293), itself owned by NPL Developments Ltd |
| Wyre Power Limited (06449211), incorporated 10 December 2007 | Applicant for a gas-fired power station at Hillhouse, withdrawn in 2022 | NPL Energy Holdings Ltd (08561853), itself owned by NPL Group (UK) Ltd |
| Wyre Gas Transportation Limited (06658221) | Registered office at Hillhouse International Business Park; dissolved 5 November 2024 | Wyre Power Ltd |
Ownership details are from the “persons with significant control” register at Companies House (retrieved 14 October 2026). The 2020 application to demolish the former Vinnolit plant was made in the name “NPL Hillhouse”, care of Thornton Facilities Management (Wyre Council, 20/00945/DEM). We found no company of that name on Companies House.
When NPL came to Hillhouse
The Enterprise Zone’s website states: “The site was acquired by NPL Estates in 2003 during which the Company has supported its development in line with a 25 year plan” (hillhouseez.com, “Location”, undated). The page does not say who sold it.
The Companies House charges register for NPL Estates records earlier charges over property in Thornton. Two were created on 20 August 1998: a debenture, and a legal charge over a property the register summarises as “The international club (formerly k/a hillhouse recreational…” (the summaries are cut off on the register). Charges created on 26 September 2000 cover “The property k/a all that f/h land at hillylaid road…” and “The property k/a all that f/h land on the east side of…”; one created on 22 January 2002 covers “F/Hold land and buildings to the east of fleetwood…”. A charge created on 15 June 2004 covers “The property k/a land and buildings at hillhouse, thornton…”, and one created on 21 June 2005 covers “Land and buildings at hillhouse thornton cleveleys…”. The register’s summaries do not say when each property was bought.
Hillhouse Remediation’s 2011 planning statement describes NPL Estates Limited as “the owners” of the former waste tip and lagoon area it was applying to restore, and Hillhouse Remediation as holding “a long-term lease” of it.
What NPL controls on the estate
Ownership. The Masterplan Review 2026, written by WSP for Wyre Council, states: “The EZ is primarily owned and controlled by private entity NPL Group (UK) Ltd (NPL) with major occupiers Victrex PLC, AGC Chemicals, and Addison Project having substantial freehold interests. Wyre Council is the accountable body for the EZ” (p. 3). Wyre Council’s Enterprise Zone page says: “The majority of Hillhouse is controlled by NPL Group” (retrieved 14 October 2026). Neither document gives the share each owner holds.
Size. NPL calls it “NPL’s 288 acre Hillhouse site” (about 117 hectares; “Hillhouse, Green Power”, undated). The Enterprise Zone’s website says the zone “extends to 138 hectares”. The two figures may describe different areas; neither page says.
Roads, utilities, security and emergency cover. The Enterprise Zone progress report to the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Economic Prosperity Board in March 2024 states: “The majority of the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone is owned by NPL Estates and is managed by Thornton Facilities Management (TFM) as subsidiary of NPL, who are responsible for all roads landscaping and the majority of the utility services provided to site occupiers. They also provide the security and emergency first response (fire and Ambulance service) for this COMAH designated location – with costs recharged on a proportional basis to the existing occupiers.” (COMAH is the Control of Major Accident Hazards regime for sites holding large amounts of dangerous substances.) TFM’s own accounts describe its income as “supplying facility management services, supplying rental space, utilities, repairs and general supply of facility services” (year to 31 March 2024).
The Masterplan Review records a different picture of how those costs are shared: “It is understood that only some occupiers currently contribute to security costs, which total approximately £1 million/annum” (p. 29). It also states that “plot management arrangements at the EZ lack clarity and are perceived as inconsistent”, and that the basis on which service charges “are allocated does not appear to be transparent across the site” (p. 28).
The gatehouse. The Board progress reports describe NPL as having “secured funding from the Getting Building Fund toward the costs of essential infrastructure upgrades”, including the new security gatehouse. “The project has been allocated funding of £630,000, comprising £504,000 Getting Building Funding, with additional match funding provided by Wyre Council and NPL at £63,000 each” (progress report, March 2024). The December 2024 report says the new arrangements use automatic number plate recognition “for staff based on site and checked access for all visiting traffic”, would “become operational for the start of the New Year”, and that “The old gatehouse on Bourne Road will close and be cleared in the first quarter of 2025.” Reports on its completion differ over time. The Board report of 28 September 2023 states that “the new security gatehouse, which had fallen behind schedule following issues with original contractors is now complete”, and a Wyre Council update for July to September 2023 states that “NPL have reported that the new security gatehouse … is now complete”. The December 2023 report says that “some elements, notably the new security gatehouse, had fallen behind schedule following issues with original contractors – work is now largely complete with a target completion for operation of January 2024”; the March 2024 report gives “a target completion for operation of April 2024”; the December 2024 report says “Work is nearing completion on the new gatehouse”.
Drainage and outfalls. Three water discharge consents for the estate’s outfalls are held by TFM (see below); AGC’s own environmental permit covers its discharges. In 2011 Hillhouse Remediation’s planning statement described the main outfall as “the main outfall of the NPL site”. The 2018 masterplan recorded that “Surface water and trade effluent discharge in to the River Wyre; the system for foul water drainage is unclear” and recommended “Upgrades to the on-site foul water treatment plant” (printed pp. 7, 50). It also described a former ICI drinking water supply from boreholes at Pilling, about 7 km away, as “under the control of NPL group” (p. 51).
Permits and consents held by NPL companies
The Environment Agency’s public registers (retrieved 14 October 2026) list these for NPL companies. A name search for “NPL” on the water discharge, waste and installations registers returns nothing; the entries are under the subsidiaries’ names.
| Holder | Reference | What the register records | Dates | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton Facilities Management | NW/017290033/014 | “Hillhouse Int. Business Centre”, effluent type “Trade - Site Drainage”, grid reference SD3475043750 | Version 14 from 31 July 2008. Version 12, from 21 January 1999, and version 13, from 18 March 2004, are also in TFM’s name | Current (no revocation date) |
| Thornton Facilities Management | NW/017290382/002 | “Lagoon Outfall, Hillhouse International”, effluent type “Trade - Process”, grid reference SD3376045420 | From 15 September 2004; version 001 ran from 21 January 1999 | Current |
| Thornton Facilities Management | NW/017290384/001 | “Royles Brook Outfall No 16”, effluent type “Trade - Surface Water”, grid reference SD3429043400 | From 21 January 1999 | Current |
| Hillhouse Remediation | KP3791CA (licence 54006) | “Hillhouse Landfill Site”, type “A07: Industrial Waste Landfill (Factory curtilage)”, grid reference SD3351445195 | First issued 8 September 1977; varied 17 November 2021. The register names only the current holder | Effective |
| Hillhouse Remediation | ZP3597ER | Mobile plant, standard rules “SR2010 No 5: Reclamation, Restoration or Improvement of Land” | Issued 22 June 2011 | Effective |
Searched by consent number, the register lists versions 001 to 011 of consent 017290033 (1 January 1980 to 20 January 1999) in the name of “I.C.I. CHEMICALS & POLYMERS LTD”, at a site called “MAIN OUTFALL”, effluent type “Trade - Process”, grid reference SD3542043130. It lists every version from 21 January 1999 in TFM’s name, although Companies House shows TFM was incorporated in February 2003; the register does not show who held the 1999 to 2003 versions at the time. Consents 017290382 and 017290384 have no versions earlier than 21 January 1999. All three consents register the site type as “Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products”. The register does not publish the conditions of any of them. Our earlier article covers the Wyre Estuary and Royles Brook consents (two discharge consents, conditions not published); the “Lagoon Outfall” consent is a third.
In July 2014 the Environment Agency advertised an application from TFM to vary consent 017290033, describing the regulated facility as a “Sewage treatment plant” discharging “Trade effluent” to the “River Wyre Estuary”, with “Volume: 10,000 cubic metres per day”. The register still shows version 14 of 2008 as the current version. We have not found the outcome of that application.
Enforcement. The Environment Agency’s public register of enforcement actions returns no entry for “Thornton Facilities”, “Hillhouse Remediation”, “NPL”, “NPL Estates”, “Landcare” or “Wyre Power” (searched 14 October 2026; the same search returns entries for other companies, such as United Utilities). The Health and Safety Executive’s enforcement registers could not be reached when we tried, so we have not searched them.
The former ICI tips and lagoons
In August 2011 Hillhouse Remediation applied to Lancashire County Council to restore “an inactive landfill site within Hillhouse Business Park, land east of Fleetwood Road” (application 02/11/0656). The county council’s committee report describes the site as about 42 hectares of “two dry settlement lagoons and 4 former chemical waste tips”, first given planning permission in November 1953 “for the deposit of waste materials from the former ICI Works” and used “for the disposal of solid waste from the manufacture of chemicals and for the treatment of waste waster [sic] effluents prior to discharge into the Wyre Estuary”.
In its planning statement Hillhouse Remediation said:
- the landfill “was operated from 1962 to 2004”, and “Acceptance of waste has now ceased”;
- Lagoon No 1 “was used for the neutralisation of acid waste streams containing chlorinated organics with lime”, and Lagoon No 2 “for the settlement of acid wastes containing chlorinated organics neutralised with lime in Lagoon No 1”;
- “Investigations at the site have identified a range of organic and inorganic contaminants within the deposited wastes including sulphate, calcium, metals such as mercury and chlorinated benzene compounds”, with some “leachable albeit at low concentrations for samples from Dry Tip No 4 (other areas are yet to be fully investigated/assessed)”;
- “the groundwater in the vicinity of the site has been impacted by chemicals derived from the landfilled wastes, including sulphate, high pH and organic compounds” (Planning Statement, August 2011, sections 2.2 and 3.4).
The county council’s report adds: “It is understood that the lagoons were constructed on salt marsh, are not contained, and are not capped.” It records that the Environment Agency had “no objection in principle”, subject to “further detailed quantitative hydrogeological risk assessment”, and that at the time “there is only an HRA [hydrogeological risk assessment] for one area of the site”. The scheme was to import about 1,291,000 cubic metres of construction, demolition and excavation wastes and soil-making materials over “up to 15 years”, to create “a nature conservation area with public access”. Permission was granted on 2 August 2012. The decision notice refers to “a planning obligation for the long term management and maintenance of the site in perpetuity, particularly in relation to public open space”.
Neither the planning statement nor the committee report contains the words “PFOA”, “PFAS” or “fluor” (we searched both).
NPL’s website says Hillhouse Remediation “is dedicated to the restoration of an area of the overall site that will gradually be turned into public open space with open grassland, trees and waterways for wildlife” (undated, retrieved 14 October 2026). Hillhouse Remediation’s accounts to 30 March 2025 carry an “Aftercare provision” of £216,416, and state that the company assumes “an aftercare period of 60 years from site closure”.
Other documents describe a lagoon or reservoir in the north of the estate, or north of the plant. We have not matched these to one another on a map, and none says it refers to the same lagoon as another:
- The 2018 masterplan, commissioned jointly by the economic development company and “NPL Group, as the primary owner of the site”, said more surveys of “contamination and waste disposal” were needed “particularly in relation to the reservoir at the northern extent of the site, which is to be filled in as part of the development of the site” (printed pp. 2, 58).
- The 2026 Masterplan Review describes the “Northern End” as the “lagoon area (which is a consideration for future development by NPL, but needs further assessment)” (p. 6). It records that “NPL reiterated its preference for the lagoon area to remain under consideration for future development” (p. 34), and recommends “Further technical and regulatory feasibility work … on the potential removal of the lagoon at the northern end of the site, working collaboratively with the Environment Agency” (p. 39).
- Dalmijn et al. (2025) found their highest PFAS concentrations “to the north of the plant at a discharge near a lagoon (DBL) and at a land drain north of the lagoon (WLD) and a leaking part of a long discharge pipe (WLPD) leading to the River Wyre”, with PFOA in those samples “ranging from 891 ± 37 ng/L to 20,624 ± 556 ng/L”. They wrote: “This lagoon was used as an effluent pit by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), the former operator of the PTFE production plant and was, unfortunately, not accessible during sampling. The high PFAS concentrations measured here indicate this lagoon should be the subject of further investigation.” The water samples were taken on a single day, 12 February 2023.
The former Vinnolit plant
On 1 September 2020 NPL announced “the completion of the acquisition of the former PVC Plant at Hillhouse Enterprise Zone … from Vinnolit GmbH (part of Westlake Group)”. It said: “NPL were able to provide a fully secure and managed exit for Vinnolit including environmental liability transfer including the transfer of all permits and authorisations.” Three Board reports (June 2023, December 2023 and March 2024) give a different year: “Majority landowner NPL Estates acquired the vacant property of the former Vinnolit site in 2022”.
The Environment Agency’s record for one permit, EPR/TP3833GG for the “PVC9 Plant”, shows that the Agency accepted its surrender from Vinnolit Hillhouse Ltd (decision EPR/TP3833GG/S001, published 12 November 2021), on the basis of a desk study, soil sampling at six points in May 2021 for “pH, sulphite, copper, sulphate, ethanol and vinyl chloride”, and a site inspection “documented in the Compliance Assessment Report TP3833GG/ 0371998 from 03/09/2020”. The Environment Agency’s current public registers of installations, water discharges and waste operations return no entry under “Vinnolit” (searched 14 October 2026), not even this surrendered permit, so they cannot show whether any other Vinnolit permit or authorisation at Hillhouse was transferred. We have not found records of any other Vinnolit permits or authorisations at Hillhouse.
Wyre Council gave prior approval for the demolition (“Prior notification for the demolition of manufacturing plant”; decision “Prior Approval Approved”, 26 March 2021), on an application in the name “NPL Hillhouse” (20/00945/DEM).
NPL’s role in the Enterprise Zone and the masterplan
Hillhouse became an Enterprise Zone after a government announcement in November 2015 (Wyre Council). The 2018 masterplan was jointly commissioned by the economic development company and “NPL Group, as the primary owner of the site” (printed p. 2).
The 2026 review “was commissioned by Wyre Council, in conjunction with NPL in late 2024” (p. 3). Its methods included “Site visits with NPL and others”. Wyre Council’s consultation form calls it a “draft review”, closes at midnight on 6 November 2026, and says comments “may be provided to the consultants involved in the masterplan and NPL Group as the primary landowner with all personal details redacted”. The form also states: “This consultation is separate from ongoing matters relating to contamination close to the site”.
The review records NPL’s positions in several places. “From an NPL perspective”, two earlier layout options “did not consider the potential of removing the lagoon and creating alternative areas for BNG [biodiversity net gain] investment” (p. 33). “In the case of NPL”, the land wanted for large occupiers “could include the lagoon” (p. 35). It notes that the cost of the proposed northern access road “would be substantial, yet land ownership means there would be no direct return to Wyre Council for any investment and spending” (p. 29). Its first recommendation is a steering group bringing together “NPL, Wyre Council, Lancashire County Council, the future Combined Authority, or other relevant stakeholders” (p. 39).
NPL is also a source of the Enterprise Zone’s figures. The Board reports’ schedules of enquiries are “provided by landowners NPL”, and Wyre Council’s 2023 quarterly performance table names “NPL Estates/Thornton Facilities Management” as the data source for its measure “Number of jobs created within the Enterprise Zone”. The December 2024 report says: “The EZ team will continue to liaise with NPL Estates to record any new or safeguarded jobs on the site.” Every progress report from June 2023 to December 2024 lists among its key risks “potential land contamination issues that need to be overcome”. The December 2024 report lists a Group Director of NPL Estates among its authors, alongside officers of Blackpool Council and Wyre Council.
NPL’s stated plans for Hillhouse
Hydrogen. The review says “Hydrogen-related industries are a key aspiration for NPL” (p. 27) and records “The establishment of a Hydrogen Steering Group by NPL” (p. 13). The March 2024 Board report says “NPL have a comprehensive plan to deliver 10MW Hydrogen on site by 2025, with 100MW by 2026 subject to planning and regulatory approvals”, under a scheme called “The Hylane Project”, and that NPL had “submitted an expression of interest application for Hydrogen Allocation Round 2”. By December 2024 the report describes “a smaller 10MW facility associated with the energy from waste facility” and a facility “of up to 100MW on the large site in the southern secure quarter of the EZ originally identified as the site for a gas-fired power station”, and says “pace of progress has been limited in recent months whilst the new government reviews energy strategy and applications for funding contributions toward the initial 10MW project including UK Gov Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 (HAR2)”.
Power. NPL’s website says “Wyre Power was recently acquired to facilitate and accelerate the delivery of our Hydrogen plant” (undated). Wyre Power’s earlier project, an “Up to 900MW” gas-fired power station at Hillhouse, was withdrawn from the national infrastructure planning process on 14 April 2022 (Planning Inspectorate). NPL’s website also describes a “350 kT/annum Energy from Waste plant … proposed on Hillhouse North”, from which “NPL’s Facilities Management company TFM would distribute a portion of this power directly to site users” (undated).
The regulatory “sandbox”. The review records a Growth Energy Innovation Regulatory Sandbox (GEIRS), developed in April 2025 “in partnership with parties including NPL”, which would use the zone “as a potential industrial base” and propose “An innovative regulatory framework which allows new technologies, business models or policies to be tested within a controlled environment” (p. 13). The review does not say which technologies or which regulators.
Access road and rail. A Wyre Council update for July to September 2023 states that “NPL are currently assessing the concept design produced by consultant WSP for the Northern access route”. The review prefers a new northern access road crossing the Fleetwood to Poulton railway line, which it says is “still currently safeguarded for rail use within the local plan” (pp. 5, 31-32). The December 2024 Board report lists among its two-year objectives a “Railway Line purchase or access agreement completed for at grade crossing following decision on future rail options”.
Jobs. NPL’s website says that at “the time of takeover, Hillhouse had around 400 employees. Presently, there are about 2,800 people involved and working on the site” (undated). The review, “Based on figures provided by Wyre Council”, gives job numbers “in December 2025” of “approximately 1,726 across the site”, and “1,650 jobs in 2018” (p. 13). The review does not say where Wyre Council’s figures come from. Wyre’s 2023 table names NPL Estates and TFM as the source of its jobs-created measure (see above).
The sale
The Masterplan Review states: “The EZ has been marketed for sale by NPL since August 2025” (p. 13).
That is the whole of what the review says. It does not say whether the whole zone, NPL’s holding or part of it is for sale, who is marketing it, at what price, or whether there is a buyer. We have found no other public statement of the sale. We read the 42 pages listed in NPL’s sitemap and its “Hillhouse, Lancashire” page on 14 October 2026, and ran web searches for reports of the estate being for sale (“Hillhouse Enterprise Zone NPL for sale Thornton-Cleveleys”; “Hillhouse” Thornton estate “for sale” 2025 with NPL Group, Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Business View or Insider Media). The Economic Prosperity Board reports we hold end in December 2024, before the marketing began.
What NPL has said about contamination
We found no statement by NPL, or by any of its companies, about PFAS or PFOA at Hillhouse. We searched the 42 pages listed in its sitemap, and its “Hillhouse, Lancashire” page, for “PFAS”, “PFOA”, “perfluor” and “fluoro” (none appears). “Contaminated” appears once, on its Biodiversity Net Gain page, in a general statement that “NPL Group has a long track record of identifying and regenerating underused or contaminated land”; it does not mention Hillhouse. We also searched the web and local press for any NPL response to the Environment Agency’s investigation, and found none. Separately, in an article of 2 December 2025 about the Jameson Road landfill and the neighbouring former ICI landfill, the Guardian reported that “NPL Group, which manages the former ICI landfill, declined to comment”. The article does not say what NPL was asked.
The 2026 Masterplan Review, which NPL helped commission, contains none of the words “PFAS”, “PFOA” or “groundwater”. It lists “Possible ground and water contamination” among the zone’s six main constraints (p. 8), and, listing the “key development considerations” that Local Plan Policy SA4 sets for the zone, states that “The site is a former chemical works and there is a high potential for ground and water contamination” (p. 20, para 4.2.6). It recommends that “A contamination study should be undertaken to assess the ground conditions and development potential across the site, including the lagoon area” (p. 40), and does not mention the investigation.
The statements by NPL companies about contamination at Hillhouse that we have found are in the 2011 restoration application quoted above. The same planning statement says of the main outfall: “In 1992 the outfall contained open ended pipes which fed directly into the estuary. During 2003-2008 modifications were made to outfall alongside environmental improvements and land remediation works … in 2007 ecological surveys concluded that mercury and cadmium were no longer having a significant impact on the Wyre Estuary. The Environment Agency Consent to Discharge was then varied to reflect that it was no longer necessary to carry out numeric testing.” We have also found one council report that an NPL company helped write: the December 2024 Board progress report, which lists a Group Director of NPL Estates among its authors, includes among its key risks “potential land contamination issues that need to be overcome”.
What would answer the open questions
We will publish any answer we receive, whatever it says.
- The sale. What has been marketed for sale since August 2025, and has any part been sold? (NPL Group; Wyre Council as accountable body)
- The lagoon. Is the lagoon whose potential removal the Masterplan Review recommends assessing the same feature as the lagoons in the 2011 restoration application, the “reservoir” in the 2018 masterplan, and the lagoon Dalmijn et al. sampled beside? Has it been tested for PFAS? (NPL; Environment Agency; Wyre Council)
- The restoration. What has been done under permission 02/11/0656, and what restoration materials has the Environment Agency approved under permit KP3791CA, including at its 2021 variation? (Lancashire County Council; Environment Agency)
- The outfalls. What are the conditions of TFM’s three consents, what does the “Lagoon Outfall” discharge, and what happened to the 2014 application to vary consent 017290033? (Environment Agency)
- Title. Which NPL company holds title to which parts of the estate? (HM Land Registry title registers)
Sources: listed in full at the top of this page. Companies House, Environment Agency register and website material retrieved 14 October 2026.