Ocean King to acquire final unit on highly successful Derby business park

L-R: Joshua Leach-Aslam (Ocean King), John Thai (OK), James Kirby-Welch (KWCo), Norman Thai (OK), Paul Doolan (Revelan), Hugo Beresford (Salloway).

The fresh and frozen food wholesale and distribution specialists are set to take a new c.28,000 sq.ft. industrial premises upon practical completion of its construction, anticipated December 2022.

Ocean King, a family business established in 1997, who specialise in the supply of fresh produce and dry goods to the restaurant sector, are currently based in Loughborough and have acquired a new custom designed storage facility within Derby, in deal brokered by Salloway Property Consultants.

The property occupies the final plot of the highly successful Victory Park, a well-located industrial development to the south of Derby which is in close proximity to Rolls-Royce’s Sinfin campus and benefits from convenient access to the national road network via the nearby Derby Southern Bypass (A50).

Salloway Property Consultants acted on behalf of Revelan Group, the experienced developer behind the scheme, who upon completion of Unit 14 will have constructed a total of 15 high-quality industrial units on site. Ocean King will join a variety of firms that are already based on Victory Park including Scitek, Grady Joinery, Gardner Aerospace, Seamers Specialist Joinery, Western Power Distribution and Intertek NDT.

The final building is currently under construction and will provide a modern detached industrial unit tailored to meet the requirements of Ocean King, with two storey offices and warehouse accommodation incorporating both refrigerated and frozen cold storage elements, together with an exclusive yard that houses parking provisions for 50 vehicles as well as external space for loading and vehicle manoeuvring.

Paul Doolan, of Revelan Group, said: “We are pleased to be working with Ocean King on their bespoke new premises in Derby, where our contractor Amphion Construction Limited are already making good progress on the building”.

Hugo Beresford, of Salloway Property Consultants, who are joint agents on the scheme with FHP Property Consultants, commented: “It has been a pleasure to help put this deal together, but it is bittersweet to have disposed of the final unit on the scheme. We received a good level of interest in the unit, which was being built out speculatively by the client, and I’m delighted that we were able to agree sale terms with Ocean King during the construction process, enabling them to have a say in the final specification and configuration of the property. The result is a high-quality bespoke facility that I’m sure will serve their business operations and plans for growth over the years to come”.

Ocean King, who were represented by property asset consultants Kirby-Welch & Co, cover the whole of the UK (including Northern Ireland) and viewed the opportunity as an ideal way to expand their business whilst continuing to offer the same exceptional quality and personal service to new and existing catering industry clients.

Steven Thai, Managing Director of Ocean King, said: “Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary this year, Ocean King are incredibly excited to be coming to Derby. On top of our established food service business, our investment of £5 million in this brand-new premises will allow us to actuate our dreams of having a state-of-the-art well-being centre for our employees and also a business hub bringing together like-minded people. This move will open up 150 jobs for the people of Derby; we will be employing a full team ranging from senior leaders to forklift drivers and HGV drivers. From our humble beginnings as Vietnamese immigrants, we are proud of this achievement and look to continue to “create opportunities and enrich the lives” of all those associated with Ocean King”.

James Kirby-Welch, of Kirby-Welch & Co, commented: “The freehold acquisition at Victory Park, Derby, presented Ocean King with an ideal strategic location within the East Midlands and with opportunity to customise the unit allowing for future growth over the next phase for the family business”.