Severnside, the powerhouse of the West – Paul Hobbs, industrial agency director at GVA, looks at the region’s changing landscape
The growing number of energy companies developing a presence in Avonmouth and Severnside is contributing to making the area the powerhouse of the west. Their growth, together with ½ million sq ft of new distribution facility currently being built, and a £5 million development of infrastructure at Central Park, means that the Avonmouth and Severnside region is driving the green shoots of recovery in the south west.
Paul Hobbs, industrial agency director at independent property consultancy GVA in Bristol, comments that while the city redevelopments at Southmead Hospital, and the regeneration work in South Bristol are both vitally important for the regional economy, the massive scale of work currently taking place at Avonmouth generally goes by un-noticed.
“Whilst speculative commercial property development has been in the doldrums for over four years as institutional funding has dried up, thanks to the growth of new industries and technologies, such as waste to energy, buildings are once again coming out of the ground at a great pace in Severnside,” says Paul.
He continues, “For many of us, the Avonmouth and Severnside area is probably best represented by the sea of cars clearly visible from the M5, awaiting sale. Passers-by undoubtedly give little thought to what is happening elsewhere in the industrial landscape that lies beyond.
“Yet within the 2,000 plus acres that lie between the coast and the M4/M5 network, there is a mass of commercial development that is going to drive our regional construction and mechanical engineering economy over the next ten years.
“The landscape is changing with new buildings springing out of the ground to house new industries and cater for the increasing number of retail led companies looking to set up new distribution hubs here.” Kelvin Galvin, of pallet company CHEP UK, is awaiting the imminent completion of CHEP’ s 50,000 sq ft pre-let, pallet distribution facility at Central Park. He says, “We are very happy to have secured our south west facility at what will be the landmark scheme in the region. Central Park offers us the opportunity to be in the heart of this vibrant, business focussed region.”
CHEP issues, collects, conditions and reissues more than 300 million pallets and containers from a global network of service centres, helping retailers, manufacturers and growers transport their products through the supply chain, every day. In the UK, CHEP manages a pool in excess of 25 million pallets across its nationwide network of 18 strategically located service centres. Paul Hobbs highlights the ideal match between the increasing number of occupier-led distribution facilities being built, with the presence of energy and waste management companies
He says, “The region has had long standing capacity problems with both waste management and power generation. The large sheds being built will benefit greatly from the waste and power companies being here.
“With new jobs will come new investment in areas such as public transport. Whilst arguably not offering the architectural design potential of Bristol city centre’s commercial developments at Temple Quay or Harbourside, this area is definitely going to be a massive job creator over the next ten years and will have spin off effects for all businesses in the region going forward .”
Among the developments currently taking place in Severnside and Avonmouth are the 430,000 sq ft distribution warehouse for the Co-op; a 350,000 sq ft waste management facility for New Earth Solutions; a 250,000 sq ft waste management facility for SITA at Avonmouth Logistics Centre; and a 50,000 sq ft pallet manufacturing facility on 8 acres for CHEP.
At Central Park on Western Approach, the 250 acre distribution park is being fully serviced for infrastructure at a cost of over £5million, giving capability for up to 4 million sq ft of building, and a potential European rail terminal.
Paul adds, “This site could easily support individual buildings larger than the landmark Morrison unit at Bridgwater.”
The Port of Bristol Authority is currently undertaking technical work for its new deepwater harbour in the old Avonmouth dock, while Scottish Power is progressing public consultation prior to 2012 IPC application on a new 1200 Mw gas fired power station sited on the old ICI plant.
Two more waste to energy facilities are also planned by SITA at Central Park, and by Viridor on the former Sevalco plant, while two national retail chains are currently in the market looking at units in excess of 400,000 sq ft.