The pandemic and closure of many high street shops have fuelled a high demand for large warehouses, known as ‘super sheds’.
Data published by the Altus Group shows that 49 large distribution warehouses were built in 2020. The 15 million square foot of new warehouse space is approximately equal to the retail space lost by the closure of the Arcadia Group and Debenhams stores.
A super shed is a warehouse that is over 85,000 square foot. At the end of 2020, super sheds in Wales and England occupied 415,28 million square feet of space, equivalent to 5,416 football pitches. The largest super shed is Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse.
One of the largest areas for super sheds is the area known as the “Golden Triangle”, which stretches from Northamptonshire to East Midlands Airport in the east and Tamworth in the west. An extra 6.07 million square foot of warehouse space was added to this area in 2020.
According to City A.M., the UK President of the Altus Group, Robert Hayton, said:
“Surging demand has led to major investment opportunities, particularly for overseas investors, as the race for space continues to intensify which will undoubtedly impact tax liabilities at the next revaluation in 2023.”
All the new super sheds require equipping with shelves, racks, trolleys, garment rails and other material handling and storage equipment supplied by a warehouse equipment manufacturer.
As the pandemic restrictions are eased, more consumers are returning to high street shops, but the increase in online sales is predicted to continue and more super sheds built.
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