Derby’s premier commercial developers, Ivygrove have secured a landmark 60,000 sq.ft. warehouse deal to Derby firm SGS Engineering at Westside Park – a gateway industrial development scheme at the junction of Raynesway and A6 Alvaston By-pass.
SGS are the largest manufacturer of NitroLift gas struts in the UK and have engineered and supplied products to a number of landmark clients including use in the construction of Wembley Stadium.
Complex negotiations took over 12 months to complete due to changes in design to cope with the rapid expansion of SGS, with the original building requirement being increased in size from 30,000 sq.ft. to 60,000 sq.ft.
Managing Director of Ivygrove Developments John Blount was instrumental in pulling together the agreement – understood to be worth in the order £5m – one of the largest transactions Ivygrove have been involved in. A strong advocate of enabling the growth in local businesses, Mr Blount highlighted: “You can tell early in negotiations if a party are going to perform or not, and SGS have been great to work with. I’m delighted that Westside Park, and Derby, is going to retain such a strong and well run manufacturer ”.
Ivygrove Developments were assisted in deal by their established professional advisory team of Lewis Rose OBE at solicitors Flint Bishop and Stephen Salloway at Derby commercial agents Salloway Property Consultants. Mr Salloway commented: “This has been an extremely complicated deal to put together, requiring patience and tenacity by all involved. The new building straddles two parcels of land we previously acquired for Ivygrove. However, this land was subject to a number of covenants that impose demands on the timing, use and structure of the development project. Working through these to enable the 50,000 sq.ft deal to SGS has taken a colossal effort.”
Derby born business SGS is a proud UK manufacturer and real post 2008 ‘credit crunch’ success story. Director of Ivygrove Developments, Richard Blount explained their efforts to accommodate SGS: “SGS originally moved to Westside Park in 2012 – taking a 11,000 sq.ft unit – which they have now completely outgrown.
One of Ivygrove’s main strengths is to accommodate companies with additional space until new premises are constructed. As an interim measure, we were able to provide 20,000 sq.ft. of workshop and warehouse facilities at other locations to enable SGS to cope with demand of their products.
This type of collaboration is beneficial to both parties and I think really highlights Ivygrove core value to assist growth of local businesses.”
The announcement of the SGS deal at Westside Park coincides with the release of the final phase of availability at the development. Mr Salloway concluded: “There are now just four remaining building plots available at Westside Park. These can accommodate industrial warehousing from between circa 9,000 to 16,000 sq.ft. The quality of building product provided by Ivygrove is there for all to see on site with Derby manufacturers SGS Engineering, EPM Technology and Quality Control Technology all taking advantage of the excellent benefits of the site. Its going to be interesting to see who’s next.”
