Clowes Developments Directors, James Richards and Paul Shanley have exchanged contracts on the groups’ largest deal to date. They have agreed a transaction to develop six logistics facilities throughout the UK with a landmark deal worth in the region of £100 million with UK insurance giant NFU Mutual.
The deal will deliver six new Grade A logistics facilities, five of which will be speculatively built with the sixth building being a new pre-let facility. Totalling in excess of 1 million sq ft, NFU Mutual are investing substantially across three Clowes Developments premier logistics sites including EMDC, Castlewood Business Park and Centrix Park. The size of the units will range from 58,586sq ft at Centrix Park to a unit of close to 250,000sq ft at EMDC.
One of the properties included in the deal is the brand new Deichmann-Shoes UK Ltd building at Centrix Park, Corby. The 162,500sq ft design and build property has already been granted planning permission and contractors, Winvic Construction, are on site building the unit. Deichmann will take possession of the purpose-built facility as early as January 2022.
The remaining five units include a 58,586sq ft industrial/warehouse/distribution building located opposite to the Deichmann building at Centrix Park. The wider site is home to BakeAway, MKM Building Supplies and several national trade counter retailers.
At Castlewood Business Park two units will be delivered. On Plot 1, a unit of 176,817sq ft and on Plot 8 where a unit of 134,192sq ft will be delivered. These sites being the two remaining large plots on the 120-acre Business Park at Junction 28 which has already attracted a good number of high-profile names and occupiers including Co-op Food, Alloga and the specialist furniture manufacturer Parker Knoll.
At EMDC there will be two larger buildings with 3a EMDC delivering 189,573sq ft and 3b EMDC delivering the largest single unit of 249,418sq ft. EMDC is accessed from the A50(T) and J24, M1 and has attracted the 1 million square foot e-commerce M&S distribution centre, the UK HQ of Moran Logistics, one of the largest e-commerce furniture providers Birlea Furniture, Interlevin Refrigeration and the regional head office for Redrow Homes.
James Richards, Director at Clowes Developments commented: "The deal demonstrates confidence in the marketplace. For NFU Mutual to entrust a significant amount of capital in Clowes Developments is recognition for how far the group has come. This deal is by far the biggest transaction we have concluded as a group to date, but we have other deals in the pipeline, and this is an exciting time for the company.
"It is said repeatedly but with little emphasis of its significance, that the success of a deal is down to teamwork. I can whole heartedly say, our in-house teams at Clowes HQ, dedicated legal representatives Heather Dixon and Chris Hawrylak at Geldards, Architect, Ben Hall at IMA Architects and our agent John Proctor at FHP Property Consultants have all played a vital role in getting this deal over the line."
Paul Shanley, Director at Clowes Developments added: "The deal with the NFU Mutual is a departure from our groups normal internal funding arrangements, primarily due to the size of the proposal. The financial strength of our group and reputation for delivery was a major factor in us being approached by NFU Mutual. It soon became apparent we share similar values and ideas, resulting in agreement to move forward together. We set our joint teams a tight timescale to get the deal over the line which, thanks to a total commitment from all the team involved, we made it happen in a record time.
P"lanning applications, where applicable, are ready to go and we expect to see site activity from late summer onwards. With the current shortage of good quality ‘big shed’ stock, the timing would appear just right to take advantage of market conditions."
Jon Brice, NFU Mutual added: "NFU Mutual are delighted to be working with Clowes Developments to bring through the development of these six prime industrial buildings in three prominent locations around the M1. This project forms a key part NFU Mutual’s strategy and we are excited to be partnering with Clowes Developments to deliver best in class space to the market.
I too would like to thank the whole team involved in this transaction, including those acting for NFU Mutual; Gowlings WLG, PSK and Burbage Realty."
The five speculatively built properties will be submitted to the relevant local authorities for planning consent with a view to start work on site this year.