A raft of major factory closures is poised to dramatically affect the South Wales’ industrial market.
In the past month, a series of household names, including Sony, Wrigley’s, St Ives and Christie Tyler, have all announced shutdowns in towns such as Bridgend and Caerphilly.
These could add another 1.5m sq ft of accommodation to an already flat market.
The latest figures from King Sturge show that, in June, 11.7m sq ft of space was available across Wales, a decrease of 0.7% from December 2004.
Chris Sutton, partner in industrial agency at the firm’s Cardiff office, said: “Supply has plateaued and, indeed, may have started to decrease.
“However, the recent raft of closures is likely to lead to a major increase in supply.”
The closures will particularly affect large unit availability, with sheds of more than 100,000 sq ft now representing 28.7% of the total available stock.
Available new floorspace now stands at 829,000 sq ft a decrease of 9.4% since December, but a major increase since the low point of 300,000 sq ft in August 2001.
Sutton added: “Where larger industrial sites are reoccupied, the incoming occupier is rarely of the same quality as the departing company.”
References: EGi News 25/07/05
