Barker Storey Matthews is pleased to announce the letting of Unit 3, Darlows Business Centre in Fengate, Peterborough comprising a 48,000 sq. ft. warehouse unit to online grocery retailer Ocado whose new distribution facility is set to create 230 jobs for Peterborough city, potentially rising as high as 500.
Ocado, who are the world’s largest dedicated online grocery retailer receive on average, 167,000 orders a week and presently their closest distribution centre that services Peterborough and surrounding Cambridgeshire is located in Hatfield, nearly 65 miles away. This new distribution spoke in Peterborough will enable Ocado, who currently distribute for Morrisons and Waitrose, a far more comprehensive logistical location for covering the Eastern Regions.
Unit 3 Darlows Business Centre is located on Whitehead Drove in Fengate East, Peterborough. The unit is enclosed by concrete hardstanding which will be utilised for the storage of Ocado’s fleet of delivery vehicles, employee parking and for HGV deliveries. The facility benefits from a good level of loading doors, 10m eaves and excellent road connections onto the A1139 Parkway which provides dual carriageway access onto the A1. The unit has been let on a new 15 year lease.
Richard Jones, Director at Barker Storey Matthews commented, “We are delighted to announce that Ocado will be joining the city of Peterborough. This is a fantastic piece of news for employment within the area, especially considering the site that Ocado has taken was formerly the location of City Link who went into administration in January 2015 at a loss of 50 jobs. The letting has been in place for some time, however Ocado has been involved in an extensive fit-out of the property with the announcement delayed in order to coincide with the commencement of operations on site.”
He continued, “The site made an ideal location for a distribution centre due to its excellent road connectivity. The online grocery market is growing at an incredibly fast rate and this new strategically located distribution centre in Peterborough will increase Ocado’s reach and efficiency significantly.”
John Dadge, Director of Planning at Barker Storey Matthews added, “We would particularly like to praise Peterborough City Councils planning department for the swift resolution of planning matters. There were a number of issues that needed resolving at the last moment and Peterborough City Council pulled out all of the stops to ensure the deal was not delayed.”
