SEGRO has completed a prelet deal with Maersk, the Danish shipping and logistics company, for almost 700,000 sq ft at its flagship big-box scheme in the East Midlands.
The deal will see Maersk – a new customer to SEGRO – create a centre of excellence at the 700-acre SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway in Leicestershire.
Maersk will occupy a bespoke 685,000 sq ft warehouse, which will complete in June 2023.
To meet SEGRO’s net zero 2030 and Maersk’s net zero 2040 commitments, the unit is being constructed to be net zero for both embodied and operational carbon. It will incorporate a full roof-mounted PV array and extensive use of recycled construction materials. Provision will also be made for the operation of a fully electric fleet of HGVs in the future.
The development expands Maersk’s offering of end-to-end logistics in the UK significantly and is the first bespoke prelet logistics unit that the company will operate here.
SEGRO has delivered 4.5m sq ft of sustainable logistics workspace at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, which is part of the UK’s only inland freeport. The site incorporates a 50-acre strategic rail freight interchange, providing a direct link to the seaports of Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton, among others.
This ability to minimise logistics emissions and reduce on-road freight mileage is understood to have been among the key factors in Maersk’s decision.
Andrew Pilsworth, managing director of national logistics at SEGRO, said: “SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway is especially attractive to customers like Maersk due to the development’s scale, connectivity and our determination to develop to the highest quality and sustainability standards. The extraordinary pace at which we have delivered this scheme illustrates this.”
Construction started in 2017 and has moved ahead more quickly than the initial 10-year programme envisaged for the site due to occupier demand, with the last big-box plot now let.
Paul Woolass, Maersk’s head of logistics and services products UK & Ireland, said the deal satisfied “two of Maersk’s key visions for the future: integrating logistics and reaching net zero emissions by 2040”.
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