Construction set to start on 3.7 million sq ft logistics scheme

Civil engineering company Buckingham Group has secured a contract thought to be valued around  £140 million to deliver SEGRO’s Gateway South, Coventry development in the West Midlands.

The new contract is for the second phase of the major ‘Coventry Gateway’ scheme, where Buckingham Group is already the contractor for the Whitley South infrastructure that includes a new road bridge over the A45 dual carriageway.

The infrastructure and remediation works will begin this month and will be completed in early 2023, with the first occupation of the industrial and logistics park possible from this date.

SEGRO completed the purchase of a 450-acre site adjacent to Coventry Airport by acquiring all interests in the Coventry & Warwickshire Development Partnership – formerly owned by Rigby Group, Roxhill and SEGRO – which enables the company to take whole ownership of the site.

Known as Gateway South, Coventry, the site is located just south of the city and the A45 with excellent access to a number of motorways including the M6, M69, M40 and M1. Planning consent has already been secured to develop 3.7 million sq ft of industrial and warehouse buildings with a gross development value in excess of £400 million. The development will include investment to remediate the former sewage works and post-war landfill site, build new road and drainage infrastructure and create a 230-acre community park.

SEGRO expects demand for high-quality logistics space in the UK to remain strong and has an ambitious pipeline of opportunities in the East Midlands and along the M1 corridor which will enable it to grow its long-term footprint in this market.

Gateway South, Coventry will be SEGRO’s latest UK big box development to follow on from the successful SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, a 700-acre development with planning consent for up to 6,000,000 sq ft of warehousing and logistics accommodation.

Gateway South is a scaled-down version of one rejected in 2015 by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government after around 1,000 objections were lodged.