A boom for the warehousing sector then?
In a changing world, whilst the roles of the High Street and City Centres’ are being re-written with a surge in online shopping – demand in the multi-let industrial and warehousing sector will boom.
Edge has extensive experience within this sector – designing industrial and warehouse facilities for maximum productivity, efficiency and flexibility; securing planning permission for new buildings and for the redevelopment of older or existing industrial structures; and creating identities and marketing collateral which successfully re-positions major business parks to capitalise on location and attract the right tenants.
Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Director explains the details:
“The recent decline in the global and UK economies has caused a re-appraisal of all asset pricing.
It has also brought into sharp relief the profitability outlook for businesses, and by implication, the future of the property assets they occupy.
High Street retail looks challenging as online retail sales expand almost exponentially. The attractiveness of home working will undoubtedly lead to lower demand for office space. The multi-let industrial/warehouse sector will not be immune, and many SMEs will find it difficult to survive the pandemic fall-out. However, in our view, compared to the other sectors, multi-let/warehousing provides more, and better opportunity for the future.
On-line delivery will continue its growth, and the current crisis has exposed the shortcomings of the last mile network. New companies will be encouraged into this business. In a reversal of the trend over the last 20 years, there will be onshoring of some manufacturing as companies seek to reduce risk to their global procurement chains. Additionally, Government at both local and national level will give every encouragement to the setting up of new businesses to help reduce unemployment.
The industrial and warehouse sector should continue to be robust, dependent on proven fundamentals of location, physical condition, and floor size. However, it is the latter element of floor area and volume that creates the distinct sectors within the broad definition of warehousing and industrial assets”.