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Tag: Warehousing

Forwarder Expands into Scotland

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Future Forwarding has announced that it has opened a new facility in Scotland, providing freight forwarding services for all modes of transport and international trade lanes. With excellent connectivity for air, road, and sea, this is a key location for Future Forwarding’s development plans, bringing additional knowledge and networks to complement the existing UK offices in Leeds and Manchester.

“We are extremely pleased to be opening our new location in Scotland. It is an exciting time as we look to grow our UK operations and reach new customers. With a long and established customer base in the north of England it seemed a natural step for us to open north of the border, where we hope customers will appreciate our quality of service and personal approach,” said Richard Lawford, Managing Director UK.

Forwarder Expands

The office, based at Rutherglen in Glasgow, is headed up by Regional Director Jason Sanders, alongside co-directors Scott Gallacher and Kenny Cooney, all bringing extensive knowledge and many years of experience from the Scottish freight forwarding industry.

“We are delighted to be joining the Future Forwarding family, and opening an office that will serve Scotland’s companies who trade on an international scale,” said Sanders. “We look to take pride in building solid relationships with customers and suppliers, and providing them support for their supply chain models and businesses through our bespoke and flexible service offerings.”

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Scotland First to Introduce New Efficiency Rules For Commercial Properties

 

Logistics Property Scheme Kick-off

Posted on by David Priestman

St. Modwen Logistics, one of the UK’s leading logistics developers and managers, has started construction on the first phase of its 1.2m sq ft scheme in Meaford. The company is regenerating the site of a former power station at St. Modwen Park Meaford and will firstly deliver two new sustainable warehouses totalling 112,000 sq ft.

Rated BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and with EPC A certification, the units will benefit from a wide range of measures to support occupiers in their net zero journeys and reduce operational energy consumption, including rooftop solar panels, smart LED lighting that reduces energy consumption by 10%, as well as EV charging points and smart metering.

Due for completion in Q4 2024, the first phase of development at the Park will include market-leading infrastructure and has already secured a much-increased power capacity of 9.2 MvA – making the entire Park suitable for advanced manufacturing companies and logistics occupiers alike. On top of the scheme’s main masterplan, the site can also deliver build-to-suit facilities of up to 633,000 sq ft within 12 months of an agreement, including cross docked units with outline planning permission already obtained. Detailed planning is in place for two large units of 193,000 sq ft and 359,000 sq ft and capable of delivery in 2026.

Logistics Property Scheme

The new phase of development at the Park will create hundreds of jobs and will also provide new green spaces alongside retained woodland, boosting local biodiversity and adding value to the local community.

The development builds on a £4.2 million investment of Government Growth Deal funding which delivered infrastructure works at St. Modwen Park Meaford, including a new roundabout on the A34, improvements to Meaford Road and a new access serving the Park. The work, which also received a significant funding contribution from St. Modwen Logistics, was carried out by Staffordshire County Council on behalf of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Situated between J14 and J15 of the M6 motorway, the logistics property scheme is strategically located on the M6 corridor. The development is situated just off the A34 dual carriageway, with access to the significant catchments of Stoke-on-Trent to the north and Stafford to the south.

Jake Shilston, Development Director at St. Modwen Logistics said: “Having successfully delivered over 2.2 million sq ft of high-quality logistics space in Stoke and secured a range of high-quality occupiers across our developments, this latest phase of development at our Meaford scheme builds on our exceptional track record in the region, helping to address the under-supply of best-in-class industrial workspace. Our capacity at Meaford to deliver a significant volume of additional space, with both detailed and outline planning in place, also positions us to meet the future demands of Staffordshire’s diverse customer base. With additional power of up to 9.2 MvA already secured, we have confidence in our ability to service the varied needs of businesses of all sizes based in the region.”

Philip White, Deputy Leader of Staffordshire County Council and Cabinet Member for economy and skills, added: “We have worked with St. Modwen Logistics from the start of site development at Meaford in 2016 to ensure access and connections to highways are delivered through the Government’s Growth Deal funding. Supporting business development and providing necessary infrastructure is a priority to the county council and we have a strong track record of working with developers as they bring sites like this forward. The logistics sector plays a prominent role in the local economy, creating thousands of jobs and attracting additional investment. St. Modwen Park Meaford is in a prime location close to both the M6 and A50/A500 corridors where we expect to see considerable jobs growth in coming years.”

St. Modwen Logistics delivered 1.3 million sq ft of modern warehouse space in 2023 and has a long-term pipeline of 23 million sq ft.

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Plans Approved for 670,000 sq.ft. UK Distribution Centre

 

Investment Pays Off, Calmest Peak for 3PL

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Specialist 3PL fulfilment provider Europa Warehouse has reported a 45 per cent increase in total orders picked in December 2023* across its 3PL sites.

Despite this increase, its facilities in Birmingham, Corby, and Dartford – which offer over one million sq. ft combined of dedicated warehouse and logistics space – operated without the usual stress and pressure associated with “peak”.

Notwithstanding continued economic challenges, there was a rise in consumer spending across the period which, supported by figures from Retail Economics, accounted for £202bn worth of global sales online and a 3.7 per cent increase in the UK.

While sales during the 2023 peak season in the UK might be less pronounced in comparison to previous years, the increase in order volumes still puts a huge pressure on 3PL services. Due to Europa’s £70m investment in its logistics operations over recent years, including £11m in shared user automation this peak period was the most efficient of any recent years’ peaks.

Dionne Redpath (pictured), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Head of Warehouse at Europa Worldwide Group said: “Shopping habits are ever evolving, but we have invested heavily to alleviate the strain on our e-commerce, retail and wholesale customers. As well as investing in new equipment and processes and having restructured in recent months we’ve augmented our approach with customer and consumer experience at heart. Our focus has been to enable customers to meet or exceed their sales targets, allowing them to maximise revenues whilst ensuring exceptionally high levels of quality and satisfaction.”

To make it easier for customers to scale up and achieve seamless fulfilment, Europa Warehouse identified the importance of implementing strategies to drive innovation in order fulfilment.

“We appreciate that our customers need to cost-effectively scale up and down at pace, while delivering an efficient service for their customers. Our overarching objective is to deliver a peak which doesn’t feel like peak at all. During seasonal peaks, e-commerce and retail brands face upsetting their own status quo: with the significant upturn in sales activity creating volatility and complexity resulting in what can be an inefficient, often-chaotic order fulfilment process. It’s the time of year businesses are more likely to experience costly mispicks, delays to dispatch and higher than normal return rates.”

Europa Warehouse is the 3PL division of Europa Worldwide Group, and one of only a few operators in the UK offering a shared-user automated picking system. Designed for products that are able to be stored in totes, which Europa refer to as ‘toteable’, the system is ideal for clients who operate with a large SKU range and a complex, volatile order profile, often requiring operations to dramatically scale up and down within a short period of time.

Redpath explains: “With robust quality control processes to prevent picking errors, thus reducing cost, a shared-user system can be quickly scaled up or down to meet fluctuating demand. In turn, this allows for accurate financial modelling because of the high level of predictability. For peak planning, this is crucial to ensure a seamless supply chain from start to finish whilst not blowing budgets.”

Calmest Peak for 3PL
Calmest Peak for 3PL

In 2023, Europa’s portfolio of warehouses picked 78.8 million units through its automated and manual fulfilment operations – regularly scaling up to 280,000 individual picks in a 24 hour period. Shared-user automation contributed towards this, allowing for regular scaling from 40 to 100,000 picks from one day to the next. The ability to scale in this way within automation is what makes it such a cost-effective solution. The ability to scale in a similar way in a manual environment is far more complex, requiring significantly more labour at a time of year when labour is at a premium. In the automated environment, those headaches simply don’t exist.

The combination of Europa’s most recent investment in its systems and automated fulfilment technology and processes allows e-commerce brands to optimise resources, simplify operational models and capitalise on the sales and growth opportunities afforded by the peak season.

Demand for Logistics Space over Next 5 Years

Posted on by Keith McKinley

The UK could need more than 112 million sq ft of new industrial and logistics floorspace, the area of more than 1,700 football pitches, over the next five years, according to the latest calculations from global property adviser Knight Frank based on current capacity utilisation rates.

The additional demand is linked to the UK’s growing population and our increasing dependence on distribution and manufacturing hubs, though the long-term trend in manufacturing toward high-value sectors, as well as increased automation in the manufacturing and distribution sectors, could ease pressure on the UK’s industrial and logistics stock.

Population growth and urbanisation:

Oxford economics forecasts the number of dwellings in the UK to rise by 958,640 over the next five years. London is expected to see the strongest growth (6.7% vs current stock), followed by the South East region. According to Knight Frank’s latest Future Gazing report, this growth will result in a high volume of additional delivery addresses that need to be serviced by logistics facilities.

Growing urban populations will also place greater pressure on industrial and logistics land in UK towns and cities. By 2033, 85.6% of the UK population is expected to be urban, compared to 84.5% today and 82.1% ten years ago. The UK’s ongoing shift toward city living will generate increased demand for urban industrial and logistics space in the coming years.

The changing nature of retail:

The way we work, shop and spend our leisure time are further increasing and changing the nature of UK industrial and logistics demand. Technology and digitalisation, as well as many consumers’ preference for online shopping and faster delivery times, will see online retail penetration rates increase from 26.6% to 29.1% by 2028. Growth in online retail sales and the associated demand for business-to-consumer deliveries is a major contributor to demand for distribution and fulfilment hubs. Knight Frank anticipates that an additional 37 million sq ft of logistics space is required just to service the growth of e-commerce over the next five years.

Physical and omnichannel retailers are also increasingly reliant on industrial and logistics properties to fulfil click-and-collect orders and returns. Physical retail, which requires approximately 1/3 of the warehouse space as e-commerce, is expected to drive 4.7 million sq ft of new requirements over the next five years as total retail sales volumes rise.

Manufacturing and services:

Manufacturing output, which has risen 11.5% in the past ten years and is projected to increase by an additional 4.3% by 2028, will drive demand for an additional 33.8 million sq ft of logistics space based on current capacity utilisation rates. A push to near-shoring and re-shoring of supply chains, partly in response to successive geopolitical and macroeconomic shocks over the past decade, also has the potential to spur manufacturing output. However, the shift toward high-value manufacturing sectors such as computer, electronic and optical products, will raise capacity utilisation rates, meaning additional requirements – calculated by reference to current utilisation rates – may not be as high.

The service sector, which accounts for 16% of occupied industrial floorspace, has become an increasingly prominent category of logistics occupier in urban industrial markets, with demand from catering, cleaning, vehicle maintenance and media production companies unable to be satisfied by the limited stock of well-located, cost-effective city-centre commercial premises. The service sector, which already dominates the UK economy and accounted for 81% of all UK commercial output in 2022, is forecast to see strong growth over the next five years. Output is expected to rise nationwide by 6.7% by 2028, requiring 36.5 million sq ft of new industrial and logistics space.

Current undersupply:

With the growth of the remaining segments of the industrial and logistics occupational market closely tied to the growth of the retail, service and manufacturing sectors, this portion of the market is likely to see similar rates of growth in the coming years. All of these factors combine to increase the projected amount of industrial and logistics floorspace required per dwelling in the UK, from 109 sq ft currently to 111 sq ft per dwelling by 2028.

However, surging demand for logistics space has coupled with constrained supply of new space over the past ten years, increasing rents and straining the availability of existing stock. Since 2013, occupied industrial floorspace has risen by 17%, precipitating a drop in vacancy rates from 9.2% to 5.2% over the same period. Market rents have risen 63% on average across the UK over that timeframe, while prime rents (units over 50,000 sq ft) have almost doubled (+93%).

Charles Binks, Head of Logistics & Industrial Agency at Knight Frank, commented: “It is clear that the projected growth of the UK’s population will necessitate the delivery of new industrial and logistics space, particularly when one considers the near record-low vacancy rates and level of availability of existing stock. However, assessing the forecast rate of population growth alone fails to account for the impact of our shifting lifestyles, consumption habits and economic activity on demand for industrial and logistics floorspace across the UK, which when taken together demonstrate the growing dependence of each household on well-located manufacturing, distribution and service hubs.”

Claire Williams, Head of UK and European Industrial Research at Knight Frank, added: “Where we live, how much we earn, how we shop, what we spend our money on and how we spend our leisure time are all driving changes in our requirements of the industrial and logistics sector. By exploring the changing nature of demand from the perspective of the household, our analysis aims to bring into focus the diverse nature of demand and better understand how requirements in terms of the uses, locations and facilities may change going forward.”

St. Modwen Logistics Lets DC in Wales

Posted on by Keith McKinley

St. Modwen Logistics, one of the UK’s leading industrial and logistics developers and managers, has leased an additional 76,000 sq ft of logistics space at St. Modwen Park Newport, Gwent in Wales as an increasing number of businesses seek to capitalise on its strong location for distribution and manufacturing.

Solus, the Aviva-owned accident repair group, has leased a 24,000 sq ft unit to be used as a centre for paint repair work, whilst a separate 52,500 sq ft unit at the park has also been let to an unnamed ecommerce business.

The units, which form part of the c.345,000 sq ft of space delivered at St. Modwen Park Newport to date, have been built to St. Modwen’s ‘Swan Standard’ of sustainable development and incorporate various energy efficiency features including LED lighting and PV panels, achieving an EPC ‘A’ rating as a result. The scheme’s existing units also support customers on their own journeys to net zero by facilitating electric vehicle charging and providing occupiers with the necessary tools to limit their operational carbon emissions, including low-energy lighting.

St. Modwen Park Newport is strategically located just two miles from Junction 23A of the M4 motorway, providing excellent connectivity to South Wales and South West England. The Park’s location between major urban centres either side of the Severn Bridge, and the quality of space delivered at the scheme, is encouraging a diverse range of manufacturing and distribution businesses to choose Newport as their preferred location to facilitate their growth.

Solus joins a number of other high-profile occupiers at St. Modwen Park Newport including Amazon, Genpower, Mitel and Ureka Global.

Ben Quarrie, Development Director at St. Modwen Logistics, commented: “We are pleased to be welcoming Solus to St. Modwen Park Newport, with this deal adding to the growing number of businesses already operating at the park. We know how important access to the national transport infrastructure is for our customers and being placed at the gateway to South Wales makes Newport an ideal location for Solus and our community of businesses to thrive.

“There remains an acute undersupply of suitable logistics space in the region and we are continuing to explore opportunities to deliver even more space, including the possibility of a variety of bespoke, build-to-suit units upto 600,000 sq ft for interested companies.”

UK Logistics Sector Returns to Pre-Pandemic Level

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Occupier demand for UK logistics and industrial space returned to its pre-pandemic norms following a year of tough market conditions, according to newly-published data from global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

According to the firm, more than 10.2 million sq ft of space transacted in the occupational market during Q4 2023, taking the total annual figure to 32.5 million sq ft.

The Q4 volume of 10.2m sq ft was a 2% increase on Q4 2022’s 10m sq ft. While marginal it will serve as a cause for cautious optimism in a market which saw just 13.5m sq ft transact across the two previous quarters. Take-up for the full year 2023 represents a 41% decrease on the 2022 total but falls just 2% below the 10-year pre-pandemic average.

Demand has been driven by a much wider pool of business during 2023, with healthcare, MedTech, food related businesses and advanced engineering companies all active nationally, while film studios and creative industries have been taking more space in and around London.

This diversity of demand has been important during a period in which the market has experienced a notable absence of large third party logistics, ecommerce and retail demand. Interest rate hikes and the subsequent impact on retail volumes, as well as the easing of the supply chain pressures that had induced a wave of additional demand in recent years, has caused demand from these areas to drop back.

Inflationary pressures have also driven some occupiers to seek out and develop their own purpose-built facilities in response to rental levels. Upcoming sustainability and environmental regulations appear to be dissuading occupiers from taking poorer quality buildings, with Grade C take-up now at its lowest level since 2008.

Richard Evans, Head of UK Logistics & Industrial at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “As expected, 2023 was certainly a challenging year for the market with tough trading conditions and persistent inflation. But the Q4 take-up figures and the breadth of demand highlights just how robust and resilient the market can be in the face of such pressure, and we’re delighted to see such a variety of businesses acquiring modern, high-quality space. We expect to see continued improvement in market conditions throughout 2024 as consumers and businesses regain confidence and the wider economic recovery begins.”

Cushman & Wakefield also states that concerns around oversupply are beginning to fade as the development pipeline dwindles, and the surge of grey space returning to the market has cooled off. Following a sharp increase in the supply of available space from Q4 2021 onwards, Q4 2023 represented a second quarter of only marginal increases. Total availability of space within units of 50,000 sq ft and above rose by just 2% compared with the Q3 value, as a result of the constrained development pipeline and persistent pressures on build and financing costs. Despite a year of rising supply, and some speculation of oversupply in the market, a more forensic examination of available space shows that overall the market continues to be characterised by a lack of choice and pockets of undersupply, supressing occupier choice and potentially holding back demand.

Seven Supply Chain Predictions for 2024

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Prologis Europe is pleased to release its Seven Supply Chain Predictions for 2024. Prologis Research continues to leverage decades of industry experience and proprietary data, as well as unique insights from its 114-million-square-metre global portfolio and 6,700 customers to provide the following forecasts.

Trend 1: The global freight recession will reverse
Signified by double-digit growth in port and truck traffic, the global freight recession is expected to reverse.

Trend 2: The Great Construction Bust will intensify
The Great Construction Bust will intensify, with global starts hitting their lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Construction costs rose by 5-10% during 2023 in most geographies, with an exception in Europe. Set against cap rates expanding globally, with Europe showing an increase of approximately 150bps, reduced development margins have curtailed development starts. In 2023, spec development starts are down more than 50% globally. Investments in manufacturing and infrastructure and a stabilising housing market supported demand for construction materials, buttressing commodity prices. At the same time, labour markets remained tight, adding to cost pressures.

Trend 3: Latin America rents will grow at more than double the global average
Latin America has experienced record demand and this will continue into 2024, especially in Mexico as nearshored manufacturing capacity comes online. However, vacancy rates are below 2% in Mexico and forecasted to remain tight throughout 2024, meaning customers will have to compete for limited space. Supply constraints include access to sufficient power, especially for new manufacturing-related requirements, as well as permitting.

Trend 4: Annual demand in China will reach the second-highest level on record
Net absorption in China will reach the second highest level on record, helping to work through excess supply from the past few years. Fiscal and monetary policy will further ease in 2024, providing demand- and supply-side incentives to emerging technologies, such as new energy vehicles (NEVs) and charging stations, renewable energy and chipmaking capabilities. E-commerce growth, which slowed to 8% y/y through October 2023, will reaccelerate to 10% or more in 2024.

Trend 5: Technology, especially artificial intelligence, will drive up energy requirements in logistics facilities
This will incentivise warehouse owners to double solar capacity. Spending into AI research and development is on a secular rise. At the same time, automation solutions will grow. We expect half of warehouses to utilise autonomous mobile robots in the next decade and 10-20% adoption of automated storage/retrieval systems in the next 10-15 years. Electric vehicle (EV) charging needs are rising. While China leads the deployment of electric trucks, adoption has broadened in Europe. Solar energy is key for sustainable power generation. Costs are economically feasible, and government incentives can fast-track adoption. In addition, supply chain issues are unlikely to continue to restrain solar installations in 2024.

Trend 6: Interest rate declines will double private equity real estate funding in 2024
Our projections take the bull case on interest rate cuts. Institutional dry powder is waiting on the sidelines, and interest rate declines in the second half of the year will unlock entry into the market as the capital markets cycle begins to turn.

Trend 7: Cap rate movements will reverse
Cap rate movements will reverse — and European cap rates expected to compress while expansion rotates to Asia. Per prediction #6 above, cost of capital is expected to decline in Europe.

Conclusion:
These predictions are based on insights from our unique platform, and we’ll revisit them at year-end. Our outlook highlights 2024 as a year of healthy demand growth, constrained supply, technological evolution of logistics facilities and a turning of the capital markets cycle.

Sustainable Gatwick Airport Warehouse

Posted on by Keith McKinley

St. Modwen Logistics, one of the UK’s leading logistics developers and managers, has completed the construction of a second warehouse at St. Modwen Park Gatwick for DHL Group. The company, which has been a tenant at the park since 2011 and already occupies a 64,000 sq ft unit, has signed a 15-year lease for the new facility.

The c.115,000 sq ft warehouse is set to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and is EPC A+ rated, achieving the highest possible level of energy efficiency. The warehouse’s green credentials also include the installation of 1,900 sqm of PV panels on the roof to generate renewable energy needed to power the building’s 12,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and ensure it is net-zero carbon in operation.

Active and sustainable travel will be encouraged at the park with 28 EV charging spaces installed as well as the inclusion of cycle bays and shower and changing facilities. The landscaped site includes hedgerows and plants, which will result in a biodiversity net gain of 39%, as well as new amenity areas for both local communities and DHL Group staff, including a trim trail, cycle path and outdoor gym equipment.

Situated just 3km from Gatwick airport, alongside Junction 10 of the M23, St. Modwen Park Gatwick provides excellent links to central London. This location is beneficial to companies looking to be close to Gatwick Airport as well as to the main motorway routes into central London. DTRE and BNP Paribas are the retained leasing agents for St. Modwen Park Gatwick.

Ellen Thomas, Senior Development Manager at St. Modwen Logistics, commented: “We are proud to announce the completion of our new, sustainable warehouse at St. Modwen Park Gatwick for DHL Group. This is a state-of-the-art warehouse facility that will support up to 150 jobs, helping to sustain a thriving local economy. This is DHL Group’s second development on the site, underlining how we are working in partnership with our customers to deliver the high-quality, bespoke spaces they need to succeed.”

Jake Huntley, Partner at DTRE, commented: “We are observing more occupiers focusing on energy efficient accommodation and we are proud to have been able to offer St. Modwen Park Gatwick to environmentally conscious customers. The success of the scheme is testament to St. Modwen’s ability to deliver critical logistics infrastructure to the highest standards.”

The Name’s Bond, Dry Bond

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ambitious logistics fulfilment specialist Europa Warehouse has fully achieved Customs Warehouse Authorisation by HMRC, marking the next major step in its warehouse investment programme to better support the pain points of traditional and ecommerce retailers.

This latest authorisation means that Europa Warehouse is authorised to store general goods that are subject to customs and VAT. This, coupled with, Europa’s ‘wet bond’ accreditation provides a real advantage for customers managing tight cashflows, allowing them to suspend customs, excise and VAT payments until their goods are sold.

Dionne Redpath (pictured), Head of Warehouse Division and COO of Europa Worldwide Group, comments: “With the current economic headwind putting strain on ecommerce, retailers and wholesalers everywhere, many of our customers are managing tight cashflows. This is pain point we have a long-held ambition to solve.

“Customs Bonded Warehousing can assist, allowing traders to import goods into the UK, hold them in the Bonded Warehouse without having to outlay Duty and VAT until goods have been sold and dispatched. For example, if an importer purchases gym equipment which attracts four per cent duty, the duty and VAT will be suspended until the importer sells the cargo in the UK.

“This is a real cashflow benefit because it means goods can be stored ahead of seasonal peaks without our warehouse customers footing heavy duty costs immediately. Instead, businesses can accurately anticipate supply and demand, while only paying necessary duties on items that leave the warehouse, typically after they have been sold.”

Europa Warehouse has operated Wet Bonds at each of its sites for some time, giving importers or sellers of alcohol the ability to delay costly excise duties until items are picked for sale and dispatch. The UK’s leading gin subscription box, Craft Gin Club, has benefited from this since its Dragon’s Den success in 2016, and continues to utilise Europa’s bonded infrastructure for forecasting supply and demand.

The Customs Warehouse Authorisation has been awarded to Europa following an extensive auditing programme with HMRC, who evaluated the infrastructure and security in place for each site. This was co-ordinated with operational teams across the Group, including facilities, project management and customs compliance teams.

Redpath continued: “Obtaining any accreditation is tough but those awarded by HMRC are especially rigorous, for obvious reasons. The HMRC officers completing the audits gave us positive feedback and, as a result, we’re really pleased to be able to extend our service offering beyond excise goods in this regard”.

Customs Warehouse Authorisation Across 3PL Sites

Europa’s portfolio of warehouses in Dartford, Birmingham and Corby, offer over one million sq. ft combined of dedicated warehouse and logistics space and are now fully authorised customs warehouses. The most recent investments within the warehouse division have been the construction of the £60m Corby warehouse, which is capable of storing up to 100,000 pallets and processes up to 50,000 units of goods per day through its £11m automation system.

Europa Warehouse is part of Europa Worldwide Group, an ambitious independent logistics operator with two other divisions, Europa Road and Europa Air & Sea. The company has been featured in The Sunday Times Top Track 250 for three years. Europa has invested £5 million in its innovative market-leading product, Europa Flow, providing a frictionless flow of goods between the EU and the UK post Brexit. The group employs over 1,400 people with 29 international sites in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Europe, Hong Kong, China and the UAE. The global operator recently reported a record turnover of £302m for the last 12 months, as of August 2022, and remains on track with its ambitious investment programme.

State of the art Logistics Campus

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Glencar, a UK construction company that was recently ranked amongst Europe’s fastest growing businesses, has today announced that it has completed construction of the final warehouse of 771,000 sq ft for leading pan-European and industrial development company Baytree Logistics Developments and its customer global logistics provider Rhenus Warehousing Solutions UK at its new 64-acre, 1 million sq ft logistics campus at a site in Nuneaton in the West Midlands.

Baytree Nuneaton, known as the ‘Rhenus Campus’, comprises of two warehouses of 210,000 and 771,00 sq ft on 64 acres and sets new benchmarks in environmental and social responsibility within the logistics sector.

The scheme, developed by Baytree, was designed by award winning architectural practice Chetwoods and has been developed to achieve significant reductions in whole life carbon, designed with reference to the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) Framework Definition for Net Zero Carbon Buildings, ensuring that Rhenus can reduce their own carbon emissions but also potentially support its customers with reducing theirs. Renewable energy will be generated on-site, with solar panels.

Included on the site is a three-storey 30,000 sq ft office headquarters with a structure constructed entirely from CLT and Glulam. This is pioneering because it’s one of the first cases in the UK of timber being used in the build of a large-scale structure within an industrial and logistics setting by a logistics developer.

When compared to conventional materials, procuring timber structural elements can deliver significant embodied carbon savings, especially as timber also sequesters carbon in its creation. The value of timber is demonstrated by the estimate that there are around 1,000 metric tons of sequestered carbon in the timber frame of the office at Nuneaton – the equivalent of enough embodied carbon to power a 20w lightbulb for 21,853 years or to drive around the world approximately 208 times.

The development also incorporates MUGA sports pitches, allotments, edible planting, wildflower grasslands, extensive networks of footpaths to encourage cardiovascular exercise and external break out areas for staff wellbeing. The site, which is bounded by the Coventry Canal, features landscaping with extensive native tree planting, and other works aimed at generating biodiversity such as log piles, locations for apiaries, bat and bird boxes, as well as an extensive balancing pond overlooked by a projecting terrace for staff relaxation.

Internally the facilities will benefit from the latest in robotics, AI and warehouse management systems to provide flexible solutions and control of the supply chain. When fully operational, the development will help Rhenus Warehousing Solutions UK achieve its goals of reducing direct carbon emissions. Both state-of-the-art, sustainable warehouses will offer a wide range of warehousing and distribution services to a diverse customer base of Global retail brands, particularly those in the fashion, toy, FMCG, home and health & beauty sectors.

Commenting on the project Glencar CEO Eddie McGillycuddy said: “It is with a tremendous sense of pride and happiness that we today can formally announce practical completion has been reached and we are handing over this truly incredible new dedicated logistics campus to Baytree and Rhenus. This cutting-edge project is one of the largest and most sustainable developments Glencar has ever had the privilege of delivering and we are absolutely delighted with the outcome. The vast scale of the warehouses coupled with the latest emerging warehousing and logistics technology and innovations looks set to ensure Rhenus can accommodate customers well into the future. As a BREEAM Outstanding certified building we are enormously proud of the hard work and dedication that the team has put in to achieve this outstanding success. I would like to thank everyone involved and look forward to seeing the building come into life and enable Rhenus to meet growing demand and exceed its customers’ expectations.”

Also commenting, Amit Babbar, Baytree Development Director said: “We are delighted to have reached practical completion on this industry leading development for Rhenus. The development incorporates a number of industry firsts on a development of this scale and represents our commitment to pioneering advancements in both the environmental and social elements of industrial and logistics buildings. We are extremely pleased with the collaborative approach taken by all involved to create a new benchmark in the sector.”

Harry Wheelhouse, Business Development & Marketing Director at Rhenus Warehousing Solutions UK added: “This new site will allow us to meet the demands of our growing business and attract new customers, whilst enabling us to deliver our high-quality, personalised service. More importantly, our new, sustainable warehouses can potentially support our customers in achieving their own carbon-reduction goals. Every aspect of our warehouse environment, will be measured using the latest in digital technology including CO2 levels by area. As all companies will need a plan to achieve a carbon-zero supply chain by 2050, Rhenus Warehousing Solutions UK is perfectly positioned to help its customers document their own roadmap to deliver this.”

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