Kier Property and its joint venture partners Maple Grove Developments have signed up the British Red Cross to the first phase of Artis Park in Winsford.
The international charity has taken units 11 and 12 measuring 26,770 sq ft on a 10-year lease. The new facility forms an expansion and consolidation of its current e-commerce stock generation and processing facilities on Winsford Industrial Estate, where the British Red Cross had two units for many years, into one major warehouse on Artis Park.
This latest deal means that 65% of phase one, comprising 10 units offering 68,000 sq ft is now occupied to tenants including Screwfix, Toolstation and Ross Care.
Construction of the second phase is well underway which was part-funded by a £5million loan from the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership. Once completed at the end of this year, this phase will offer 53,000 sq ft of employment space across 3 units ranging in size from 10,560sq ft to 26,620sq ft.
Gerald Eve and Legat Owen are the retained agents at Artis Park. The entire £14 million trade counter development comprises 122,000 sq ft of floorspace with flexible units.
Gareth Morgan, Head of UK Retail Performance at the British Red Cross said; “We look forward to significantly growing the contribution of both these areas of our business in the years to come and share the estate’s sustainability aspirations. We commit to making a continued contribution to tackle the huge volume of unwanted items that end up in landfill each year. This new unit will allow us to receive many more tonnes of donations – both preloved and corporate items. These donations are vital to British Red Cross Retail as they enable us to continue raising money to fund the charity’s services in local communities across the UK, as well as its work abroad.”
Henry Martin, senior development manager at Kier Property added: “Artis Park offers businesses the high quality, flexible and energy efficient industrial space for modern requirements. The letting to the British Red Cross further highlights the development’s credentials and attraction to occupiers looking for new industrial space.”
Nik Puttnam, senior development manager at Maple Grove, commented: “We would like to welcome the British Red Cross to Artis Park, it is good to attract an organisation of international repute. After a period of uncertainty, this is an encouraging sign that organisations are now making strategic decisions about their property assets and the next step for their business. This is representative of the significant upturn in enquiries we are seeing from businesses looking to relocate or expand their facilities.”
Winsford Industrial Estate is the UK’s first Green Business Park and has benefitted from significant environmental improvements. Winsford was also the first estate in the UK to become a Business Improvement District
Williams Sillitoe advised the British Red Cross.