St. Modwen completes 1 million sq ft of industrial lettings

Longbridge property group, St. Modwen has exceeded 1 million sq ft of lettings in the industrial and logistics sector for 2017.

It has been aided in its goal by two recent significant deals.

German multinational Robert Bosch has taken 36,846sq ft of newly developed space at Parkside Business Park in Doncaster.

Bosch Automotive, part of Robert Bosch, is a leading global supplier of technology and services, and has agreed a 15-year lease of the property which will provide the base for a new automotive training centre.

The business will commence a substantial fit-out of the unit and hopes to be operational in mid-2018 in what will be a flagship facility for the North of England and complement Bosch’s existing facility in Uxbridge.

St. Modwen has also recently secured planning consent for the next phase of the 27-acre site, which will provide in-demand facilities.

Automotive supplier Grupo Antolin is also to expand its presence at Barton Business Park, near Burton-on-Trent to 183,000 sq ft of space.

Grupo Antolin is a first-tier automotive supplier of interior trim systems and components to major OEM’s from multiple sites throughout the UK. The Spanish company currently occupies 70,000 sq ft at Barton Business Park, and has signed a 15-year lease to expand its operations on site into a newly built 113,000 sq ft unit, adjacent to its existing plot.

The performance is in line with St. Modwen’s emphasis on the industrial and logistics sector.

It has also identified a further 7.5m sq ft of industrial and logistics projects from its medium-term pipeline which are deliverable over the next few years.

Guy Gusterson, Property Director, Midlands and North for St. Modwen said: “A strategic review of our business earlier this year identified the potential for industrial development across St. Modwen’s land holdings located alongside key infrastructure links in order to exploit the growing demand for space in this undersupplied market.

“Since then, we have made good progress in accelerating the delivery of our pipeline with approximately 1 million sq ft of speculative, pre-let and pre-sold assets completed during 2017.

“These latest substantial lettings are testament to our belief in the value to be captured from this growth sector and leave us confident in our strategy to continue pursuing attractive development opportunities in this space.”