British Airways Pension Fund (BAPF) and Tritax Symmetry have secured a 83,750 sq ft pre-let with Warburtons on a 15-year lease. The deal coincides with the start of construction of two new speculatively built logistics facilities at Central M40 in Banbury.
Designed by aja architects and constructed by A&H, the building which will be Warburtons’ new distribution facility is on schedule to be completed in June and, once operational, will create up to 90 new jobs for the local area.
A spokesperson from Warburtons: “This high-quality facility will act as a new consolidation centre to collate our manufactured products for distribution across the South of the UK, which will streamline our distribution network and reduce food delivery miles. Unit 9 plays an integral role in supporting our growth aspirations in the region. We are investing heavily in our new building and, in doing so, will become a significant contributor to the local economy.”
A&H is also on site constructing two new high-quality distribution warehouses comprising 198,750 sq ft (unit 6) and 144,800 sq ft (unit 10) which are on schedule to complete in Q3 2021. Both buildings will be built to net zero carbon in construction and benefit from 15m eaves in height, twin service yards, 50kN/2 floor loading, PV solar power and have a BREEAM “Very Good”. The buildings will be available for rent from practical completion.
Occupying a prominent position on the M40 at Junction 11, the scheme Central M40, Banbury extends to a total of 70 acres and benefits from detailed planning consent for a total of 1,285,760 sq ft of industrial warehouse accommodation. The scheme is home to third party logistics provider, Great Bear Distribution (334,760 sq ft); TVS SCS (95,002 sq ft); Rinkit (78,117 sq ft); Hello Fresh (236,580 sq ft) and Prodrive (114,000 sq ft).
Speaking about progress on site, Joseph Skinner, associate development director at Tritax Symmetry, commented: “The decision to speculatively build the next phase of development at CM40 was a relatively simple one to make. The pre-let to Warburtons, recent letting to Great Bear Distribution and the tenant line up demonstrates the scheme’s strength of offer.
“CM40 has become a well established business destination attracting a wide range of high-profile occupiers from manufacturers to 3PLs and with the high volume of requirements we are seeing, we are confident this additional high quality space will soak up the latent demand.”
Burbage Realty, CBRE and Colliers are joint agents for BAPF and Tritax Symmetry.
Laura Sutton at JLL advised Warburtons.
Tritax Symmetry is the dedicated logistics developer of Tritax Big Box REIT plc (TBBR).