Data published on industrial construction show that in the three months leading up to May 2019, building contracts to the value of £1.8bn were awarded, with 51.5% of them for warehouse and storage facilities.
The largest number of new warehouses are being built in North West England and the Midlands. Among the major projects is a £20m logistics facility at Haydock Lane Industrial Estate in St. Helens.
These figures were published in the latest Economic & Construction Market Review edition by analysts Barbour ABI. Tom Hall, Chief economist at Barbour ABI, commented:
“We are experiencing a continued increase into Q2 2019 in contract awards for the warehousing and storage sector, especially in more central areas of the UK perhaps for its transportation links.”
This is good news for the warehouse equipment manufacturer sector, which supply the warehouse racks, trolleys, packing tables and other equipment used to store and move goods in warehouses.
Much of the demand for new warehouses is due to the growth of online shopping, especially in locations near major motorway networks. There have also been increases in the stockpiling of goods because of the uncertainties of the supply of some items after Britain leaves the European Union.
The property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton has predicted that Britain is in danger of running out of warehouses space by the end of 2020 unless considerably more are built and enough existing warehouses are able to expand by building extensions or installing mezzanine floors.
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