Norton Motorcycles Purchases Donington Hall Estate, Moves From the Race Track to the Manor

Norton Motorcycles has acquired the Donington Hall estate in the U.K., including its 25 acres of land from airline company British Airways. The property also includes the 45,000 square foot Hastings House facility will become Norton’s new production facility and design studio.

Until now, Norton has been operating out of the Donington Park circuit, which was formerly part of the Donington Hall estate. The Hall itself was built in 1790 and carries a lot of history. During the First World War, the British government requisitioned Donington Hall and used it as a POW camp. The Hall later housed Hungarian refugees fleeing the Soviets after a failed revolution in 1956.

“Donington Hall conjures up a uniquely British way to show style, strength and quality which are all great attributes of the Norton brand,” says Stuart Garner, chief executive officer of Norton Motorcycles. “It became clear some time ago that we had outgrown our current location, to be able to move less than a mile down the road to an outstanding facility like Donington Hall is ideal. It will allow Norton to grow our manufacturing business with focus on ‘built in Britain by British hands’, export growth and job creation.”

British Midlands Airways acquired Donington Hall in 1971 and moved its operations to the estate in 1982. The airline was later rebranded as British Midlands International and later acquired by International Airlines Group and merged with British Airways in 2012. The estate became redundant following the merger, leading to the sale of the property to Norton.

The new Hasting House facility is three times the size of Norton’s previous 15,000 square foot factory at Donington Park. Norton will need the extra space to increase production, especially now that the company aims to start exporting to other markets including the U.S. and Canada.

“Donington Hall conjures up a uniquely British way to show style, strength and quality which are all great attributes of the Norton brand,” says Stuart Garner, chief executive officer of Norton Motorcycles. “It became clear some time ago that we had outgrown our current location, to be able to move less than a mile down the road to an outstanding facility like Donington Hall is ideal. It will allow Norton to grow our manufacturing business with focus on ‘built in Britain by British hands’, export growth and job creation.”

[Source: Norton; Photo by John Horner]

By Dennis Chung