Freight forwarder Davies Turner has paid more than £5 million for a cross docked warehouse at Coleshill in the West Midlands.
The 72,556 sq ft warehouse was the only cross-docked unit available in the Midlands, and was sold within six months of the site becoming vacant.
The new site, which is close to its existing Coleshill DC, has 40 loading doors, similar to the Phase 1 warehouse at its Dartford freight hub. Davies Turner funded the purchase from its reserves.
The 6.3 acre site allows for future expansion and is a few hundred metres from the Hams Hall Rail Terminal, which Davies Turner already uses for moving deep-sea containers to and from the ports.
Philip Stephenson, group chairman at Davies Turner, said: “Our sales effort is gearing up for another increase in throughput, which we anticipate in markets such as Germany and Central Europe.”
The site can accommodate a mezzanine floor to double the present operational area. Stephenson said this would also enable the company to handle fast-moving internet fulfilment.
“Over the past few years, we have pressed on with these counter-cyclical investments in regional distribution centres and have further developed our overnight transport network covering Britain and Ireland nationwide,” he said. “The acquisition of this versatile Hams Hall depot which will work in conjunction with our nearby Coleshill hub and also our Birmingham air cargo branch, will enable us to continue expanding our freight forwarding and logistics as well as our consolidation services.”
BNP Paribas Real Estate and North Rae Sanders advised the owner a pension fund client, in the sale of Unit B, Edison Road, Hams Hall, Coleshill in the West Midlands.
Peter Monks, associate director at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “Due to the lack of similar product on the market we received good competition and we were able to complete this sale at a price representing the quality of the site and building, in a relatively short period of time.”
