One of the largest distribution parks on the M4 corridor is to become even bigger following the decision by its developer to bring forward more warehouse space.
The 78.2-acre St Modwen Park at junction 17 near Chippenham is already home to eCommerce fulfilment company Huboo and online furniture business Furniturebox, which occupy nearly 190,000 sq ft of space between them.
Now developer St Modwen Logistics has outlined plans to bring forward 450,000 sq ft of warehouse space I two buildings on the site, making it the national firm’s largest speculative development in the south West.
The buildings, which will have the potential to employ up to 600 people, are currently under construction by Northampton-based group Winvic, which built the Huboo and Furniturebox warehouses.
They will target a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, with sustainable features such as solar PV panels and a proportion of parking spaces reserved for electric vehicle charging points.
Once completed, the whole site is expected to create around 1,300 jobs.
St Modwen Logistics development director Peter Davies said: “Chippenham benefits from its access to a skilled local labour force and its strategic location at the gateway to major consumer markets in the South West and South Wales.
“However, there is an acute undersupply of high-quality warehousing and we are responding to that by delivering new schemes capable of creating hundreds of jobs for local people and providing occupiers with fit-for-purpose, sustainable logistics space.
“Our decision to progress with the expansion of St Modwen Park Chippenham and the delivery of our largest ever speculative development is testament to both the strength of the business’ investment and development expertise and to the resilience of occupier demand in the South West."
Winvic head of industrial, distribution and logistics Danny Nelson added: ”We’ve been making excellent progress on the two warehouse facilities and we’re proud that one is St Modwen’s largest speculative development.”
St Modwen bought the scheme, formerly known as Chippenham Gateway, in 2016 from a group of private landowners.
The site between junction 17 of the M4 and the A350 dual carriageway Chippenham link road had been regarded as prime development land for decades because of its strategic location.
At 17 miles from Swindon and 25 miles from Bristol, it is a viable alternative to similar schemes such as Synergy Park in Swindon and a number of major developments at Avonmouth, near Bristol.
