30/09/2025
New Development at Springfield Mills officially named
The new commercial development being built at Springfield Mills in Farsley now has an official
name. Due to be finished around Christmas, the attractive new building, featuring 8 high quality
commercial spaces, will be named The Bostock Building, after the late Chairman, John Bostock.
This is the first time in 50 years that a new building has been constructed on site and it seemed
fitting to name the new enterprise, after Gaunts Ltd’s influential Chairman, who steered the
business from its woollen and textile days, into a thriving business centre, at just the right time.
Horsforth-born John, who spent time in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and India with his family as a
young boy, returned to England in the late 1940s and came back to his native Yorkshire to join
Gaunts, then still a textile company in 1954. He studied Textile Technology at Leeds University
and returned to Gaunts in 1957 to set up a quality control department, and starting on the
management ladder, John eventually progressed to Group Managing Director and Group
Chairman.
Times were tough in a changing manufacturing climate in the UK and so it was John’s vision in the1980s and 1990s to diversify into various other sectors, including property. In 1998 the company, finally exited from textiles and concentrated solely on commercial property, developing and letting its assets and acquiring further investments until he retired in 2012.
Whilst in textiles, he was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, a Director of the
Worsted Spinners Federation Ltd, a Council Member of the Wool Industries Research
Association, a Council member of the Management Service Centre for the Wool Textile Industry
and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
He was a Magistrate from 1972 to 2002 and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of
North Yorkshire in 1991 and awarded the MBE in 2002 for services to the community and
especially the Magistracy.
“It was John’s vision and tenacity, which is largely responsible for the vibrant commercial
community of people and businesses that occupy this great textile mill today,” said Chris Pratt,
who took over from John as Managing Director in 2012, and now as non-executive Director, is
overseeing the completion of the new development.
One of John’s three daughters, Ginny Lowndes, said “We are touched and delighted as a family
that the company has decided to name the new development after my Father. I am still a member
of the Board so I am personally also very proud that his name will continue through this exciting
new venture as his legacy for all the brilliant work he did for the business, for the local community
and for the people he looked after.”
For those interested in leasing one of the new hybrid Warehouse/Office spaces that make up
The Bostock Building, please visit www.gauntsproperty.co.uk or call 0113 236 3555.
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