The Gold Vaults of London: Malca-Amit

Following on from the recent blog post “G4S London Gold Vault 2.0 – ICBC Standard Bank in, Deutsche Bank out“, which discusses the G4S precious metals vault located on Abbey Road in the Park Royal area of London, its instructive to also look at where the other London Gold Market vaults are located.

According to the vaulting pages on the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) website:

“There are seven custodians offering vaulting services in the London bullion market, three of whom are also clearing members of the LBMA (Barclays, HSBC and JP Morgan). There are also four other security carriers, who are also LBMA members (Brinks, G4S Cash Solutions (UK), Malca Amit and Loomis International (UK) Ltd). The Bank of England also offers a custodian service (gold only)."

These 8 custodians are then listed in a pdf document on the LBMA website with their head office addresses, but not the vault addresses. So where are the actual vaults?

Having looked at G4S, let’s continue by examining the London vault of Malca-Amit. On its website page which featuring its London vault, Malca-Amit states that:

“The London-based Malca-Amit vault is conveniently located close to Heathrow airport. The vault is graded at level XII CD EX, the highest European Vault classification and is complemented by the most up to date security systems including the Avigilon CCTV suite with cameras capturing 29 megapixels per frame.

The vault is authorised by the members of the London Clearing Company and has LBMA approval for the weighing and inspecting of precious metals.“

Notice the reference to London Clearing Company. This is a reference to the London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL), a private precious metals clearing consortium comprising HSBC, JP Morgan, Barclays, The Bank of Nova Scotia – ScotiaMocatta, and UBS.

Driving around in Circles?

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) actually featured Malca-Amit’s London vault in a slightly tongue in cheek article by Aelred Connelly titled “Visit to Malca-Amit’s New Vault" which appeared in Issue 68 of the LBMA’s Alchemist magazine in October 2012.

The article begins:

“It was a balmy day when we arrived at Feltham station where we were warmly greeted by our host for the day, Allan Finn, Global Commodities Director for Malca-Amit. Allan told us that the location of the vault was top secret so he deviously drove his car round in circles until we were so disorientated we had no idea where he had taken us."

And ends with:

“Our tour came to an end. Allan drove his car round in circles again until we were so disorientated that we didn’t know where we had come from. But he made up for it by taking us for a nice lunch on the river at Richmond.

Apart from driving around in circles between Feltham Station and the vault destination, the article also tells us that:

“Malca-Amit became a member of the LBMA in March 2012 and shortly afterwards completed the building of a new vault facility close to Heathrow airport…..

…the new secure storage facility was opened in April 2012 near Heathrow airport.“

So it seems that Malca-Amit was granted Ordinary membership status of the LBMA just prior to its new vault becoming operational. The granting of Ordinary membership was probably a precursor to the Malca-Amit vault being, in the words of Malca-Amit, “authorised by the members of the London Clearing Company ..[with].. LBMA approval for the weighing and inspecting of precious metals."

The LBMA Alchemist profile goes on to say:

“Built above ground, the Malca-Amit vault is one of a number of new facilities that either have been built or which will be opened shortly within the perimeter of the M25….. Proximity to an airport is an advantage.“

On 20 September 2012, the LBMA issued an advisory document titled “Best Practice Guidelines; Used by “Loco London” Vaults Opening a new vault for the storage of precious metals“, in which it was advised that “If you wish to store the higher value precious metals then you may find that insurers insist that your vaults are subterranean“. This obviously wasn’t an issue for Malca-Amit’s insurers, since the Malca-Amit vault is in a building that’s above ground.

The Alchemist continues:

“When we eventually arrived at our destination only the sound of planes overhead gave any indication as to where we were."

“Before we went in to the building Allan explained that the perimeter fencing can withstand a 7.5-ton vehicle at 50 mph and the internal shutter anti-ram barrier which is located behind the entrance gates can withstand a 7.5-ton vehicle at 30 mph."

“But the thing that strikes you most is the vault. Allan explained that it is a Chubbsafe
grade XII which offers the highest possible level of security and provides capacity for more than 300 metric tonnes of gold and 1,000 tonnes of silver.“

“Gold and silver are not the only precious items in storage: there are also diamonds and other precious stones and jewellery which are kept in storage on behalf of clients."

Where then could Malca-Amit’s recently opened gold and silver vault be located?

Arena Building, Parkway

It turns out that in a similar manner to G4S when it made a planning application amendment for its new vault building at Abbey Road in Park Royal, Malca-Amit was also not shy of listing its building location on the internet, for it too listed the location of its new vault in a planning application amendment submission dated July 2013.

This planning document is posted on the www.gov.uk website, and on page 10, it states:

OK0230285 SN
MALCA-AMIT (UK) LTD
Director(s): STEPHAN KAZES, RAPHEL AMIT.
UNIT C3, TAMIAN WAY , HOUNSLOW TW4 6BL

New operating centre: ARENA BUILDING, PARKWAY TRADING ESTATE, AERODROME WAY, CRANFORD LANE, HOUNSLOW TW5 9QA

(0 vehicle(s), 0 trailer(s))
New authorisation at this operating centre will be: 4 vehicle(s), 2 trailer(s)

Which leads us to the questions: what is and where is this Arena Building?

In 2011, the already completed Arena Parkway building,  profiled in a glossy brochure, was marketed on a UK commercial real estate website called NovaLoca commercial property finder. This brochure pdf file was created on 14 July 2011. So although Malca-Amit may have “completed the building of a new vault facility" as the LBMA stated, it did not build the building in which the vault is located. The building had already been built prior to 2011.

The ‘Arena’ building is in the ‘Parkway Heathrow M4’ industrial estate off Cranford Lane, in Heston, in the Hounslow area to the north-east of Heathrow airport.  Anyone who knows that area around Hounslow will know that the one of the landing routes into Heathrow Airport is a very low approach along a route right above where this building is located.

According to the brochure:

“The Arena provides a modern detached warehouse unit of 23,660 sq ft with a self-contained secure yard and benefits from 24-hour security, an on-site management team and surveillance cameras."

“The unit is available on a new Full Repairing and Insuring lease basis."

Additional information in the 2011 brochure includes such facts as:

“NEW DISTRIBUTION/WAREHOUSE UNIT 23,660 sq ft (2,198 sq m)"

Description
The Arena is a new high quality warehouse suitable for production, storage, research and development, laboratories and general distribution. It has an impressive reception leading to first floor fully fitted offices. The property is constructed of brick and profile metal composite cladding with double glazed windows fitted with solar shading.

Accommodation
The property provides the following approximate gross external floor areas:
Warehouse 20,430 sq ft 1,898 sq m
FF Offices 3,230 sq ft 300 sq m
Total 23,660 sq ft 2,198 sq m

Amenities
Warehouse, 8m clear height, Two up and over electric loading
doors, 200 kVA 3 Phase power supply, Roof lights to 10% of warehouse
floor area, Floor loading of 50Kn/m2

Offices
Open plan layout, Full access raised floor, Suspended ceilings with recess
lighting, Gas central heating, Double glazed windows, Passenger lift
Reception area

 Exterior
Self-contained property, Large secure yard, Access for articulated lorries
Allocated parking

Given that this Arena building was being marketed from July 2011 onwards, and that Malca-Amit began operating the vault facility from April 2012, then it would suggest, as would be expected, that Malca-Amit took possession, and then fitted out the building to its own specific requirements, including the vault, before opening for business in April 2012.

The Arena building is in the London Borough of Hounslow, so it is instructive to examine planning applications made for this building in and around the dates that Malca-Amit took occupancy.

A planning search for TW5 9QA on the Hounslow planning website reveals that plans for this Arena Parkway building were submitted from as early as December 2007, but there seems to have been a long drawn out series of planning applications and amendements made for the construction, the latest being submitted in December 2008 and approved by Hounslow Council in February 2009. Therefore, construction of the building would have commenced sometime after February 2009.

The planning applications for the Arena building, which were submitted by CGNU Life Assurance Ltd / Aviva Investors, summarise the project as follows:

“System Reference: P/2008/3669

Planning Reference: 00315/F/P59(6)

Following approval for demolition of the existing office building and construction of new industrial and warehouse unit with ancillary office accommodation, new entrances off existing access road, car parking, landscaping and roof mounted photo-voltaic panels details submitted pursuant to Condition 6 (waste and recycled materials storage) of permission dated 18/03/08

APPLICANT DETAILS

Name Mr Mark Nevitt CGNU Life Assurance Ltd

 Address C/O Aviva Investors No.1 Poultry London EC2R 8EJ

Architect     LDA Ltd Chartered Architects, Surrey"

The Arena drawings document submitted with the most recent building application shows a layout in keeping with the size and shape of the structure that was actually built, so it looks like the development was completed in accordance with the last approved set of plans.

Fencing

Following occupancy by Malca-Amit, the only planning application submitted for the Arena Building since then is application “Planning Reference: 00315/F/P61" which addressed improved fencing around the site.

“System Reference: P/2013/1670

Planning Reference: 00315/F/P61

Site description THE ARENA PARKWAY TRADING ESTATE CRANFORD LANE HOUNSLOW LONDON TW5 9QA           

Date received 31/05/2013

Details: Erection of security fencing and bollards along perimeter of site with sliding gate at yard entrance and rising barrier at car park

Ward: Heston West   [note that a ward is a sub-unit of a borough]

APPLICANT DETAILS

Name     Malca Amit

Address   100 Hatton Garden EC1N 8NX

Architect          Pinnegar Hayward Design, Birmingham

Application Received 31/05/2013

Decision Approved 13/09/2013

The ‘delegated report’ submission states that:

“The application seeks to improve the existing security around the site. The existing bollards around the site would be made good to existing low-level shrub planting. The fencing around the part of the site would be a 2.4m high 358 mesh panel fence powder 600 mm high electric fence above. This fencing would be on the north, south and west parts of the site. There would be a 6m cantilevered sliding gate, which would be 2.4m high with serrated top – RAL 9005 (black) finish.

In order to secure parking on site a car park gate has been proposed which runs off the access road. This would be 3m wide rising barrier which would be 1m high, RAL 9003 (white) finish with contrasting red banding. There would be 1m wide exit gate which would be next to the unit."

The Site Plan and Elevation for the above application put some visuals on the above delegated report text. This fencing is therefore the fencing that Allan Finn of Malca-Amit was referring to when he told the LBMA that the"perimeter fencing can withstand a 7.5-ton vehicle at 50 mph and the internal shutter anti-ram barrier which is located behind the entrance gates can withstand a 7.5-ton vehicle at 30 mph."

The Edinburgh Assay Office and UKAS

Not only is Malca-Amit located in this Arena Parkway Building, but so is the Edinburgh Assay Office.  Although the Edinburgh Assay office has its headquarters in Goldsmiths Hall, Edinburgh, in Scotland, it also operates a laboratory at a Heathrow Sub Office where it is accredited for “Chemical Tests for the purpose of hallmarking".

This fact is revealed in a series of United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) reports that were posted on the UKAS website in June 2015. On 8 June 2015, UKAS posted a report about the Edinburgh Assay Office on its website titled “The Edinburgh Assay Office Issue No: 010 Issue date: 08 June 2015". This report lists a ‘Heathrow Sub Office’ for the Edinburgh Assay Office without specifying its address.

However, 4 days earlier on 4 June 2015, UKAS posted a report titled “The Edinburgh Assay Office Issue No: 009 Issue date: 04 June 2015" in which the Heathrow Sub Office was listed with an address of  “1st Floor,  Arena Parkway, Cranford Lane, Heston, TW5 9QA".

Although the Issue 010 report from UKAS replaced its Issue 009 version a few days later, the Issue 009 version remained in the Google cache as a Google search result and also as a complete cached document:

Cached version of Issue 009

The commercial logic for the Edinburgh Assay Office having a presence in Malca-Amit’s Arena building seems to be that, in addition to Malca-Amit storing precious metals and precious stones and jewellery in the building, the location is also convenient for the rest of the Heathrow area where precious metals and jewellery are constantly arriving into and departing from. This is the ‘Hallmarking in Transit’ service offered by the Edinburgh Assay Office, offered in conjunction with Malca-Amit, and explained on the Assay Office website here, and also on Malca-Amit’s website here.

The Edinburgh Aassy Office’s Heathrow sub-office was profiled in January 2015 in an article on website Jewellery Focus, complete with photo of the office in the Arena building. Notice the Malca-Amit warehouse floor in the background of the photo with the office on the 1st floor. The one year anniversary of the Edinburgh Assay Office sub-office in the Malca-Amit premises was also recorded in an end of January 2016 article from Professional Jeweller titled “Edinburgh Assay Office celebrates one year of Hallmarking in Transit at Heathrow”.

This is not the only UK-based assay office to maintain a sub-office in the premises of a secure precious metals transport and secure storage operator near Heathrow Airport. The Goldsmiths Company – Assay Office, which is headquartered in the City of London, also operates a Heathrow Sub Office in “Unit 7, Radius Park, Faggs Road, Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 0NG". This is listed in a UKAS report “The Goldsmiths’ Company – Assay Office Issue 016 Issue Date 05 August 2014". This ‘Unit 7 Radius Park’ is a Brinks building and it too contains a vault, but that’s another vault profile for another day.