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Industrial/Warehouse News
Since starting my new role with FHP in September 2020, the increasing demand of industrial/warehouse units paired with the consistent lack of supply, has been an ongoing topic of conversation amongst the FHP industrial team. Despite the uncertainty of the past 12 months, demand for UK industrial/warehouse space continued to grow and fared better than any other commercial property sector.
Indeed, the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns has accelerated the shift to online, leading to a surge in demand from Ecommerce and Post & Parcel operators, however, encouragingly we have found the demand is no higher from distribution companies than it is from manufacturers, with enquiries coming from a plethora of sectors.
Over the year, demand has strengthened across all sizes ranges, but in particular for those units circa 5,000 sq ft and under. To showcase a few, I have recently put two small warehouse units under offer at Viking Business Centre, a popular trading estate in Swadlincote. 2,035 sq ft of office/workshop premises on Victoria Way, Pride Park, is under offer to an Ecommerce business, and 5,000 sq ft at Osmaston Park Industrial Estate in Derby is under offer to an operator within the distribution sector. Additionally, 611 sq ft at Amber Business Centre in Riddings went under offer within a matter of days of it coming to market.
This take-up arises from a mix of new start-ups alongside the expansion of existing businesses. In many circumstances, demand is so high that rental figures increase, and despite a challenging economic backdrop, we believe 2021 will continue to witness inflationary pressures on rents.
Thanks to the high volume of transactions, there has been a significant decrease in availability and vacancy. As a result, we are now faced with a growing shortage of suitable stock as supply is unable to cope with the unprecedented demand. Every day I am speaking with parties who express their dismay that they have completely outgrown their unit, and every day I feel so disheartened to tell them that I don’t have any stock available in order to help. We need more stock!
If you would like to discuss disposing of your industrial or warehouse premises, then I would be happy to help. Please contact Estée Coulthard-Boardman on 01332 224 853 or estee@fhp.co.uk .
19 March 2021