Barberry starts construction of £9.8m speculative warehouse in Daventry

Barberry Group’s new £10 million speculative development of a 72,000 sq ft warehouse gets underway in Daventry. From left are Christian Smith (Savills), Gavin Stevens (Fusion), Jonathan Robinson (Barberry), Jon Mott (Barberry), and Kevin Zamar (Benniman.)

Construction is underway to deliver a £9.8 million speculative development of a 72,000 sq ft warehouse unit at the site of a former DIY store in Northamptonshire.

Barberry Developments has started on site at the 3.5-acre site, at Sopwith Way, Daventry. Benniman has been appointed construction contractor and practical completion is expected in May 2020.

Barberry secured the site for an undisclosed sum from New River Retail and achieved planning consent from Daventry District Council.

The development, on the site of a former Focus DIY store, will generate around 90 jobs and investment in the area, Barberry development director Jon Robinson said.

“Barberry 72 will be a prominent high quality warehouse/manufacturing unit, in the highly sought-after mid-box range, in what is an excellent location,” said Jon.

“Our speculative development clearly demonstrates our confidence in the market, our product, location and the appetite within the industrial and logistics sector for warehouse units of this size within Daventry.”

He added: “We are committed to executing our business plan in key strategic locations within the UK, and Barberry 72 fits into our strategy perfectly.

“We currently have a logistics/industrial pipeline of circa 2.8 million sq ft. All of our warehouses are available on both leasehold terms or as freehold purchases.”

Benniman managing director Steve Smith said: “This is the fourth project Barberry has appointed us on in the last 12 months and it’s great to be working alongside such an experienced and professional team again.”

The Daventry site is located in the established industrial estate of Drayton Fields, just half a mile from the A45, leading to J18 of the M1 around 6.5 miles away. Other major occupiers near the site include Amazon, Tesco, Ford, Wincanton and Cummings.

It is the latest in a growing portfolio of industrial/warehouse developments for Barberry, which recently completed warehouse units of 46,000 sq ft and 65,000 sq ft in Birmingham.

Meanwhile, the Richardson Barberry joint venture construction of five mid-box industrial units, totaling 174,500 sq ft, at More+ in Bristol, has reached practical completion. The JV has also been selected as development partner to deliver a £140 million business park – with 1.75 million sq ft of accommodation – at Aycliffe Business Park in County Durham, and recently gained planning consent.