A 1.3 acre site with an industrial warehouse of almost 23,000 sq ft (2,136 sq m) in Peterborough’s Eastern Industry district has been sold to Watling JCB for £1.275 million, confirms agent Barker Storey Matthews who acted for the vendor in the sale.
The Viking House site on Oxney Road is directly behind Watling JCB’s existing Peterborough depot which, over the past four years, has become the centre for JCB Generators and Access Equipment and, additionally, the full range of JCB machines and attachments. With 100 service engineers and over 200 staff in the Watling JCB group, space on its existing depot site had become tight.
With more land and an industrial shed building five times the size of Watling JCB’s current depot premises, the Viking House site will accommodate the group’s future business growth. It also means it can retain its current Peterborough location from which it serves customers throughout the East Midlands.
Watling JCB’s plans for the industrial unit include workshop space, offices and a purpose-built product training centre with bespoke training facilities. A large part of the building will be warehouse space to enable the safe storage of large parts, attachments, access equipment machines, generators and other machines as required. Modern racking will be used to maximise storage space where possible.
Peter Wright is Watling JCB’s Depot Manager and he confirmed that as the business continues to grow, it is likely that additional employment will be created as a direct result of the acquisition of the new site.
He added, “Today, customers expect to conclude deals very quickly and take delivery of their new or used machinery as quickly as possible to meet their business needs. The new building will enable us to stock even more machines and equipment so that we can meet their expectations.
“We will have more workshop space to prepare machines for customers and to provide fast turnaround on servicing and maintenance. The new building will also help to alleviate the pressure on our other depots by providing a central stocking area for key product lines.”
Commenting on the sale, Richard Jones, Director, Barker Storey Matthews said, “Opportunities to purchase premises in this popular and established industrial area of Peterborough are rare. Watling JCB was perfectly placed to act swiftly to secure this site.”
