Supermarket giant Morrisons has acquired Derby’s largest second-hand distribution hub in a multi-million pound deal overseen by Innes England.
Acting on behalf of Hudson Advisors, the East Midlands commercial property consultancy has completed the sale of Derby Distribution Centre.
The site houses the largest second-hand warehouse and distribution facility within Derby, providing 400,000 sq ft in a single building.
Nick Hosking, director at Innes England’s Derby office, said: “Over the past decade we have let over a million square feet of space within Sinfin and Derby Distribution Centre has always proved successful, offering reasonably priced, well-serviced warehousing space capable of accommodating requirements from 80,000 sq ft up to 400,000 sq ft.”
Previous occupiers attracted to the scheme include Crown Crest, Great Bear, Rolls-Royce, Laura Ashley, Kuehne & Nagel, Wincanton and Network Rail.
Nick added: “As has been widely reported within the broader national press, Morrisons has recently been going through a property rationalisation process and its acquisition of the scheme provides some short term income together with opportunities for consolidation and future expansion.”
The scheme is currently partly occupied by Derby florist Flowerworld, which is owned by Morrisons. Each week the site makes over 300,000 flower bouquets, which are subsequently distributed to Morrisons’ 510 stores nationwide.
“This sale further limits the available supply of warehousing space across the city with stock levels of larger footprint accommodation sitting at a ten-year low,” added Nick.
“Encouragingly, we are starting to see the return of speculative development to the regional big shed market but, on a local level, demand continues to outstrip supply across the board.”
GVA acted as joint agent for Hudson and KF represented Morrisons.
