Investment secured for car maker’s warehouse
CONSTRUCTED
DISTRIBUTION CENTRE BEING NEAR THE M42
FINANCIAL backing has been secured for a 3 million sq ft Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) global parts distribution centre.
Investment firm Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) will provide funding for the Mercia Park complex, being built by IM Properties next to Junction 11 of the M42, at Appleby Magna.
Planning permission to build on 238 acres of farmland was granted in the autumn of 2019 despite concerns from people living nearby about the environmental, traffic and visual impact.
ICG said it will partner IM Properties to deliver what it called the UK’s biggest-ever “single occupier buildto-suit transaction”.
It is providing 20-year leases for each of the five units.
The site will be JLR’s base for sending spare parts to customers in the UK and 80 countries.
The car maker wants to centralise the work currently done at 10 warehouses dotted around the Midlands, including a big warehouse in Desford.
The whole site will have 1,200 people working there from day one and 3,000 forecast by 2030.
Kevin Ashfield, UK development director at IM Properties, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with ICG and remain committed to delivering this sustainable, high-quality, bespoke global logistics centre.
“Infrastructure work is now largely complete, so construction can commence.
“This is great news for the logistics sector and it is hugely exciting for IM Properties to be involved with a deal of such scale and importance.
“The units will be completed on a phased basis with the last unit due to complete in September 2022”.
Chris Nichols, head of sale and leaseback at ICG, said: “This is a landmark acquisition by ICG, and the biggest single-occupier logistics build-to-suit ever undertaken in the UK.
“Successfully completing this transaction reflects our ability to source truly mission-critical real estate in very competitive spheres.
“We anticipate making additional investments by the end of the first quarter of the year, by which time we expect to have invested circa one billion euros (£890 million) into mission-critical investments in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Northern Europe.
“The fund is actively seeking new mission-critical real estate investment opportunities across Europe.”
PARISH councillors have apologised after a number of grave headstones in a village cemetery were laid flat on the ground following a safety inspection.
Some people visiting the resting place of loved ones at Frolesworth Road cemetery, in Broughton Astley, thought the graves had been attacked by vandals.
Lisa Mabbett, whose daughter is buried there, said Broughton Astley Parish Council had handled it “very badly”.
“This is where my daughter Shannon is, though her grave is not affected. I was so shocked and upset when I attended, I called the police as I genuinely thought it was vandalism.
“I was crying my eyes out. I was so upset for everyone.
“When the police officer called me to confirm it was the council, even she said it looked like vandalism.”
A number of people contacted local MP situation.
The Tory MP for South Leicestershire said: “I know this is a deeply sensitive matter and a number of constituents were upset by the parish council taking this action.
“My office has been in touch with Broughton Astley Parish Council, and I am pleased to say they and the funeral director and the parish council’s memorial inspector have agreed to reinstate all the headstones, in line with current safety standards, at no charge to the families concerned.
“Of course, the council’s intention was never to cause any distress in this case, and they have expressed regret at the situation, but I am pleased that this matter is now hopefully resolved.”
A parish council spokesman said: “The council regrets the unintended impact on families from the recent inspection of memorials in the Frolesworth Road cemetery and to provide an explanation of the sequence of events.
Alberto Costa about the
“It was definitely not the parish council’s intention to cause distress to any of the families, but (we) regret any that has been caused.
“We have a legal obligation to carry out these inspections to protect all visitors to the cemetery and to appoint a qualified memorial inspector, in this case G Sellers, to carry out that inspection following the prescribed process laid out by the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM).
“There have been a number of accidents in cemeteries in the past, including some very unfortunate fatalities of children, and the council would not want something similar to happen to their residents.
“Notice of the upcoming inspection was posted on the parish notice board at the cemetery from midNovember and subsequently on the parish council website.
“On reflection, parish councillors could have given greater consideration to how effective our communication would be to those potentially affected by the inspection. We acknowledge this some families and this.
“From January 5 to January 15, G Sellers carried out the inspections which unfortunately identified a number of memorials that were deemed to be unsafe and therefore immediate action was required to ensure that nobody could be injured. They used an approved NAMM method to temporarily lay them down with all due respect and care.
“It was very unfortunate this action had to be taken, and the council is very sorry for any distress this has caused.
“G Sellers provided the report to the parish office, who commenced tracing the deed of grant owner of the affected memorials. Those efforts are ongoing and the parish office is contacting people at the addresses held on the register. We would encourage those who have been affected but not yet received a letter to contact the office. G Sellers will reinstate all of the affected memorials.” did will not reach learn from