Potential for massive commercial development unlocked at ports complex

Associated British Ports (ABP) has acquired a 227.5-acre employment site known as Stallingborough Interchange.

The land is earmarked for commercial port opportunities including automotive, bulk warehousing, distribution and logistics uses, advanced manufacturing, as well as green energy initiatives.

It is next to the A180, two miles from the Port of Immingham and six miles from the Port of Grimsby and is one of the largest of the original Enterprise Zones in the area.

It already has outline planning consent secured by North East Lincolnshire Council for up to 1.3 million sq ft of business, general industrial and storage/distribution space, which was approved in 2018.

ABP plans to submit an outline planning application in early 2024 for up to 80 acres of automotive logistics on the site.

Simon Bird, regional director of the Humber, said: “This is an important milestone in the future growth of the Humber ports.

“It demonstrates the need for strategic investment in land to facilitate the continued growth of ABP and to maintain the Humber ports leading position in the UK, as well as significant investment in the region for jobs.

“As demand is expected to increase for energy generation, automotive storage, bulk warehousing, and storage and distribution uses our space constraints within our ports will increase.

“This additional land will ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities, and technological innovation for new and existing customers.”

Greg Lacey, head of property – Humber, ABP said: “It’s always a challenge to bring forward a site of such significant scale and I’d like to personally thank North East Lincolnshire Council for all the investment in time and costs to get it to this stage.

“We now pick up the baton to bring to fruition our shared ambition to create a major UK port logistics development.

“The site is the largest development land parcel in such proximity to the ports, and of significant scale versus wider opportunities in the Yorkshire region.

“It is unlikely any opportunity of the same size will be coming to the market for some time.”

Councillor Philip Jackson, leader of the council, said: “The sale has realised the opportunity to see development accelerated at Pioneer Business Park at a pace and is likely to bring with it a variety of benefits, including additional investment, facilities, and jobs locally.

“I’d like to thank ABP for coming to the table with the proposals, and for creating what will be one of the biggest single developments in the area in recent times.”

Damien Jaines-White, assistant director for regeneration at the council, said: “We have worked incredibly hard to bring this sale forward, to drive the economic aspirations of our area.

“Our innovative South Humber Industrial Investment Programme has proven to be a real driver to attracting investment in North East Lincolnshire, in particular our award-winning ecological mitigation sites which have been cited as a key reason for developers choosing here as a place to locate.”

Peter Mason and Elizabeth Cook at Addleshaw Goddard LLP acted on behalf of ABP and Kassra Powles, Ayesha Khalique and Louise Hunt of Browne Jacobson LLP acted on behalf of NELC.