Gazeley - Industrial Development - Sheffield, Shepcote Lane
Date: 02 Jun 2004
The Polestar Group, Europe's leading independent printing company, has announced that it plans to locate its new gravure printing facility in Sheffield.
The decision follows an extensive Europe-wide search by Polestar's development partner Gazeley. Polestar appointed Gazeley in March 2004 to identify a site for the new 650,000 sq ft (60,385 sq m) high-tech printing plant. Following a detailed decision making process to determine the ideal location, Polestar opted for two sites already held within Gazeley's European portfolio. The two short-listed sites were Sheffield in the UK and Magna Park Belgium in La Louvière, Belgium. Gazeley is now delighted to announce that after careful consideration, Sheffield has been selected.
Gazeley has submitted a planning application for development of the whole site to Sheffield City Council and anticipate planning consent to be determined shortly to enable delivery of the Polestar project and the future development of the remainder of the site.
The 48 acre (19.5 hectare) site is located on Shepcote Lane in Sheffield, less than a mile from Junction 34 of the M1 (Meadowhall) and within two miles of Junction 33 (Sheffield Parkway). Gazeley purchased the land from Corus and Outokumpo Stainless Ltd in March 2004.
The first phase of the Polestar facility will total 384,350 sq ft (35,706 sq m) with the ability to expand up to 650,000 sq ft (60,386 sq m), an option that Polestar expects to implement over the next 3 years. The remaining element of the site totals approximately 20 acres (8.09 hectares) and planning has been submitted for two units of 270,000 sq ft and 162,000 sq ft (25,083 sq m and 15,050 sq m) respectively.
Subject to planning, Gazeley will deliver the Polestar facility before the end of 2004 and is able to offer design and build solutions on the rest of the £50 million site deliverable within similar timescales.
Gazeley has appointed NAI Fuller Peiser (Sheffield) and C2G as joint letting agents for the scheme. Quoting rents are expected to be in the region of £4.50 per sq ft (£48.50 per sq m).
Barry Hibbert, chief executive of the Polestar Group said "The location of our new plant with access to the motorway network, and the reputation of the workforce in the region had a big impact on our decision making process. In addition to this, the attitude and co-operation given by the local authorities in Sheffield is a shining example to the rest of the UK of how to attract inward investment."
Mike Young, project director, adds: "We are grateful to Sheffield First for Investment, Sheffield City Council, and Yorkshire Forward for their tremendous support over the last few weeks and we look forward to working closely with them to bring this development to fruition."
Nick Cook, development manager for Gazeley, says: "Polestar's decision to locate in Sheffield is great news for the UK, it will provide a welcome boost to the local economy and deliver up to 1000 much-needed jobs to the area. We only completed the purchase of the site in March so to agree such an important deal this quickly demonstrates the demand for locations like Sheffield.
"This part of the UK offers a readily available workforce, excellence transport links and lower occupational costs to more traditional distribution locations, which are all increasingly important factors influencing many occupiers' property decisions".
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