Prologis to develop facility in Coventry for Dunlop spin-off
BIG shed developer Prologis has agreed a deal with Suffolk Life Annuities to sell the freehold of a five acre plot at Prologis Park Coventry and to build a 60,000 sq ft manufacturing facility.
Suffolk Life Annuities is an administrator of self-invested personal pensions (SIPP) and manages in excess of 16,000 SIPP plans with assets of more than £4 bn.
It will manage a newly formed SIPP for 38 employees of Dunlop Systems and Components and both the land and the new building will be held in the SIPP and then leased to Dunlop.
Formed in 2007 as a management buy-out of the Dunlop Coventry suspension division factory, the company specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic control systems and air suspension components for the automotive and ancillary industries. It currently employs 90 people.
Sales and marketing manager Wayne Copeland said: “Prologis is working closely with us to design a building that will help us to take our business forward and because the site has expansion room, we can look forward to a long-term future in Coventry.”
Prologis will submit a planning application for the new shortly and it hopes to start on site in early 2013 so that the building will be completed, fitted out and ready for occupation by the autumn of next year.
The facility has been designed to achieve a minimum BREEAM 2011 ‘very good’ accreditation and the best EPC rating possible for its size.
James Wright, vice president at Prologis, said. “The company’s decision to invest in its new facility through the employees’ SIPP is an interesting model and reflects the Government’s drive towards greater employee participation.”
