By the end of 2033, the company hopes to have built 13.5 million square feet of environmentally friendly warehouse space throughout the West Midlands, with an emphasis on tech-enabled logistics facilities, R&D space, and light manufacturing. The investment will be concentrated on a variety of regional warehouse types. This includes the construction of SEGRO Park Coventry, a 450-acre property with authorisation to build 3.7 million square feet of warehouses and industrial buildings. Additionally, it intends to build about 2,700 electric vehicle charging stations at various sites in the area.
The 10-year plan calls for SEGRO to run specialised training and skill-development programmes to help 5,000 local youth find work and offer 1,000 more construction apprenticeship opportunities, reports Construction Journal.
“There is a long-term shortage of modern, sustainable industrial employment space in the West Midlands, which is essential to enable the efficient movement of goods across the country and to support high-tech Research & Development and manufacturing,” said David Sleath, chief executive officer of SEGRO. Working with the West Midlands Combined Authority will enable us to locate and make development-ready brownfield sites that will serve the entire UK, generating various local job opportunities and fostering the development of a more resilient economy nationwide.