As supermarket operators battle for market share, Mark Simmons finds that the industrial sector is most buoyant.
When was the last time your local supermarket sponsored a roundabout? Or a junction or traffic lights? It may sound unlikely, but motor down to Crewe and amid the brilliant array of summer blooms you will find that Asda has sponsored some roundabouts. Were it not for the white boards you might miss the shout: “Sponsored by Asda”. These boards helpfully point the way to the long-established in-town store. This may or may not be connected to the fact that the roundabouts concerned are those stationed near to rival Safeway’s recently opened superstore, next to the railway museum.
No competition
The two chains can at least take comfort from the fact that, for the foreseeable future, they will have no further competition. The nearest rival is another new Sainsbury’s store mid-way between Crewe and Nantwich.
Asda owns the reportedly fully let Victoria Centre, next to its superstore, and local agents recall that plans to cover the open-air shopping centre were at one time being considered. “It would be logical to do this because one of Crewe’s largest car parks is behind [it] and therefore [the centre] has a large pedestrian flowcount,” says Gary Lockley of Buckinghams. But enthusiasm for this scheme appears to have died. According to Lockley, the Trafford Centre at Dumplington in Greater Manchester does not appear to be worrying retailers: “It’s a bit too far away and a tortuous journey on the A34 at the best of times”.
Voids are limited in the High Street pitches, possibly reflecting the new street furniture and semi-pedestrianisation in and around Earl Street. The effect, says Lockley, is noticeable: “At one time people wouldn’t consider locating in Crewe – they would go to Nantwich or Chester.”
The shortage of available units extends outside the prime pitch. On Mill Street, W M Ewington has begun construction of two 139m2 (1,500 sq ft) units for HSS Tool Hire and Lex. Further development is in prospect at the bus station, recently sold to Henry Starnes Properties. A retail and leisure complex is planned for the 1ha (2.5 acre) site. But Neil Lamont, of Lamont & Co, cautions: “Opportunities are limited because the town won’t sustain that much demand.” However, there is still healthy demand from brewing companies. Lamont acquired a pub for Whitbread on Western Road for a Brewers Fayre, and has also sold a site at Crewe Green to Wolverhampton & Dudley Brewery for a family restaurant.
Whatever the reality, the perception of Crewe is that of an industrial location; a heritage bestowed by the railway workshops and more recently continued by large manufacturers. These halcyon days now appear to be over, and little new space has been built recently. “One of the reasons there hasn’t been much speculative development is that Crewe has relied on Rolls-Royce and Wellcome – it has been a bit complacent,” explains Lockley.
With the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and the slimming down of the Rolls-Royce plant, the town is looking to new occupiers to provide employment. And there appears to be increasing demand for space. Lamont foresees an influx of occupiers from the Potteries due to lack of supply there. He calculates that there is a minimum of 37,160m2 (400,000 sq ft) in outstanding production requirements. The advantage of Crewe, as opposed to Warrington, he believes, is a combination of good motorway access and a captive workforce.
Edge of town
Yet, as in many parts of the UK, developers are reticent about building speculatively, says Lockley. On the edge of town, Grimley and John German are marketing the remaining 6.7ha (16.5 acres) at Weston Gate on Weston Road at £321,226 per ha (£130,000 per acre).
Demand for secondhand space is such that there is very little available on Crewe Gates. Buckinghams has agreed terms on the acquisition of a 1.2ha (3 acre) site at nearby Weston Interchange for Chamberlain Transport. Further along Weston Road, Donaldsons and King Sturge are marketing the industrial parts of the former Glaxo Wellcome base at Crewe Hall. At Underwood Business Centre, north Crewe, only unit 17 is available out of 18 units totalling about 1,858m2 (20,000 sq ft). Landlord WM Ewington is quoting a rent of £108 per m2 (£10 per sq ft) through Buckinghams.
“There is very little in terms of small units available,” says Lockley. However, Lamont believes that this reflects a lack of demand: “The one funny quirk of the market is that demand for 465m2 (5,000 sq ft) units is low and demand for 2,323m2 to 2,787m2 (25,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft) units is higher. The irony is that units of this size are less likely to be built speculatively than their smaller counterparts,” he says. Without new development, potential occupiers may be tempted to wander further afield. “The danger is they will go elsewhere, without a doubt,” warns Lamont.
One of the few new sites to appear for employment purposes is Marshfield Park, situated between Crewe and Nantwich. The 9.1ha (22.5 acre) site, with possible expansion space of 1.6ha (4 acres), is being promoted jointly by Crewe & Nantwich borough council and Cheshire county council.
The partnership has already put in services and is quoting land prices of £222,387 per ha (£90,000 per acre) for the site, opposite a newly opened Beefeater and Travel Inn. “We see it [Marshfield] primarily as being for local companies – within a 10 mile radius,” says Crewe & Nantwich principal economic development officer David Griffiths. He claims that there is strong demand from industrial companies wanting to buy land at Marshfield Park, with firm demand for approximately 2,787m2 (30,000 sq ft). Privately, local agents are sceptical that much development will occur on the land. Lamont comments: “It will happen, but it won’t attract distribution, it will be local manufacturers.” He points to the large high-voltage pylons that criss-cross the site as an added complication.
Expansion space
Marshfield follows another council partnership project; the provision of land for offices at Crewe Business Park. The only existing space available on the park is a small unit in Electra House. A fourth wing is proposed for the building, but letting agent Lamont sees this as providing expansion space for existing tenants. Griffiths believes that an inquiry from MAFF, which has hung in the market for at least two years, could be converted to a construction start by the end of the year. He also hopes that a deal can be agreed with a developer to speculatively build 929m2 (10,000 sq ft).
The town-centre office market is hamstrung through lack of new supply. “The big problem with Crewe is that there’s such a quantum leap between new and secondhand,” says Lamont. The last remaining unit at Pepper House, Nantwich, has been taken. And at Wellington House in Delamere Street, Crewe, Donaldsons and Buckinghams have 307m2 (3,300 sq ft) of refurbished space under offer to East Cheshire Health Authority at a rent of £94 per m2 (£8.75 per sq ft). About 929m2 (10,000 sq ft) is still available there.
Outside the town centre, the former maternity hospital on the Middlewich Road, near Nantwich, has been converted to offices. Renamed Princes Court, Lamont & Co and Matthews & Goodman are marketing approximately 1,115m2 (12,000 sq ft) in partnership with Cheshire city council.
Key transactions
Mill Street, Crewe: Retail. WM Ewington, advised by Buckinghams, has prelet two units, each of 139m2 (1,500 sq ft), to HSS Tool Hire and Lex for 10 years with a break in year five.
Pepper House, Market Street, Nantwich: Offices. WM Ewington, advised by Buckinghams and Legat Owen, has agreed terms with existing tenant Computer Software for an additional 218m2 (2,350 sq ft). CSL will take a new five-year lease on 1,672m2 (18,000 sq ft) at a rent of £86 per m2 (£8 per sq ft).
Unit 10, Underwood Business Centre, Underwood Lane: Industrial. S&M Properties 2000 has agreed terms with WM Ewington for a three-year lease on 129m2 (1,384 sq ft) at a rent of £44 per m2 (£4.10 per sq ft). Buckinghams is letting agent.
Fourth Avenue, Crewe Gates Farm: Industrial. The former Norwest Footwear unit of 952m2 (10,250 sq ft) has been let to Stoke on Trent college on a five-year lease at a rent of £35,000 pa. Buckinghams acted for Norwest Footwear.
Wellington House, Delamere Street, Crewe: Offices. City Sites Estates, advised by Buckinghams and Donaldsons, has let 152m2 (1,633 sq ft) to Krueger UK on a 10-year lease at an inclusive rent of £108 per m2 (£10 per sq ft).
Unit 5, Weston Interchange, Crewe: Industrial. Burford Group, represented by Legat Owen and Lamont & Co, has let a 1,024m2 (11,020 sq ft) warehouse to Lechler (UK) on a five-year lease at a rent of £44,080 pa.
