Furniture firm to build 74,000 sq ft warehouse at EMDC

Clowes Developments has agreed terms to build a new warehouse facility for Birlea Furniture at its flagship East Midlands Distribution Centre, Castle Donington, Junction 24, M1.

Birlea Furniture already occupies around 85,000 sq ft on the site and the new 74,000 sq ft facility, the firm says, will help it continue the expansion of its growing online and wholesale furniture business.

Birlea is purchasing the new facility which will be completed in June 2017 with groundworks now underway on site.

Paul Shanley, Clowes group director, said: “We are very pleased to have agreed another deal with Birlea Furniture. It is very pleasing to see a company continue their organic expansion on one of our sites with this being the third sale that we have agreed with Birlea over the past five years.”

Jake and Joe Magill, joint managing directors of Birlea, said: “EMDC is the ideal location from our perspective. It is close to our original roots in Beeston and Kegworth, with the site plugging directly into the major road network via the A50 and the M1 at Junction 24.

“Our growing online business means that we need to be able to dispatch goods throughout the country within 24 hours and being at the heart of the UK is ideal as we can hit over 80% of the country’s population within a two hour drive time.

Having an existing working relationship with Clowes also gives us to comfort to know that we will have a quality building delivered”.

John Proctor at FHP Property Consultants in conjunction with Savills acted for Clowes Developments, with Sean Bremner at CPP advising Birlea Furniture.

GF Tomlinson of Derby has been appointed as contractor.

Gateley’s Leicester office acted on behalf of Clowes and Freeths’ Nottingham office acting on behalf of Birlea Furniture.