Work has started on the latest – and largest – ‘big shed’ food warehouse at Avonmouth as the transformation of the area from a major industrial site into a prime location for supermarket distribution centres gathers pace.
The 616,000 sq ft building for Asda is on the 40-acre site of the former Rhodia chemical works, which closed in 2006. The £70m centre will include a 485,000 sq ft warehouse for chilled and frozen food alongside a 131,000 sq ft service centre.
Scheduled to open later this year, it will service 123 stores and be able to pack about 3m cases a week at busy times. It will replace Asda’s depot at Portbury.
The size of the supermarket distribution centres at Avonmouth have been getting larger as the retail giants seek to maximise efficiencies.
The Co-op’s 450,000 sq ft centre opened last November and followed Tesco’s nearby 500,000 sq ft warehouse.
Tim Davies, head of property agents Colliers International’s Bristol office, which aadvised on the Asda deal, said: “Simple economies of scale and the first-rate transport network north west of Bristol are bringing more and more business to Avonmouth and putting the area at the centre of the UK’s industrial and logistics map.
“With the M4 and M5 junctions close by, Avonmouth is delivering the most efficient transport solutions not just for the whole of the South West but South Wales as well.”
Other major occupiers in the area attracted by its motorway links include Robert Wiseman Dairies, Superdrug, Honda, logistics group Kuehne + Nagel, Accolade Wines, Avon & Somerset Police and DSV.
The Rhodia site had been used by various heavy chemical industrial companies since opening in 1917.
