Mark Allan, Chief Executive of St. Modwen, commented:
“2018 has been another positive year for us. With £529m of disposals, we made substantial progress on our objective to focus our portfolio on sectors with the best structural growth prospects and reduce our borrowings, whilst we continued to grow housebuilding volumes and industrial and logistics development activity. Despite the ongoing uncertainty in the wider UK economy, structural growth drivers in these two key sectors remain positive, so following the significant repositioning over the past 18 months, we are now well placed to deliver a meaningful improvement in our return on capital and earnings in the coming years.”
Rupert Joseland, Property Director for St. Modwen West and Wales, said:
“Many milestones have been met this year, seeing the West lead the way in the industrial and logistics sector. St. Modwen’s development sites in areas like Avonmouth, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire are more attractive than ever to occupiers given the excellent transport links to the M4 and M5 and the build-to-suit opportunities on offer.
“Recent highlights include the completion of Gateway 12 Business Park in Gloucestershire, providing over 285,000 sq ft of prime location logistics and production space for the area with a potential to create up to 400 jobs. We are now focused on developing the first phase of employment space at our nearby 58-acre site, St. Modwen Park Gloucester. Located adjacent to Junction 12 of the M5, it is set to generate up to 1,250 new long-term jobs after outline planning was granted for almost 1 million sq ft of prime warehouse and industrial space.
“To the north of Chippenham in Wiltshire, we are seeing fantastic progress with St. Modwen Park Chippenham given the go-ahead, following 18 months of engagement with local residents and key stakeholders. A 106,000 sq ft unit will be delivered speculatively through 2019 together with the site wide land preparation The 79-acre scheme will also provide up to 1,000,000 sq ft of prime employment space for the area, ideal for sizable logistics firms requiring a centralised location in the south.
“Further west in Avonmouth, we are in the process of delivering the region’s largest speculative unit (151,000 sq ft) at Access 18 as part of our overall strategy to accelerate industrial and logistics development activity. There are also delivery plans in place for a further 335,000 sq ft in up to eight units, all of which will benefit from the carefully-designed green space and open water on site and will support in excess of 2,600 jobs.
“The next 12 months look very encouraging with plans to deliver new accommodation across eight industrial and logistics schemesand to secure further opportunities across the Wales and West region.”