Clowes Developments recently announced the exchange of contracts on the Groups’ largest deal to date. In 2021, the Derbyshire based property Group agreed a transaction to develop six logistics facilities throughout the UK with a landmark deal worth in the region of £100 million with UK insurance giant NFU Mutual.

East Midlands Distribution Centre (EMDC) at Castle Donington will house two of the six brand-new NFU Mutual properties agreed within the landmark deal. The two large scale properties will sit next to each other and are located on the central plot of land running through the middle of the wider business park. The units will be directly opposite the enormous 1m sq ft M&S distribution centre which spans the length of a half mile long road.

EMDC190 will be a 190,000sq ft unit benefiting from a large 15m haunch warehouse with 18 loading bays, over 10,000sq ft of office space over two floors and associated welfare facilities for staff.

EMDC280 will be largest of the units built for NFU Mutual achieving an impressive footprint of 280,000ft comprising of another spacious warehouse again achieving 15 m in height with 26 loading bays, 17,000sq ft of office allocation which again will be dispersed over two floors. Both properties will have their own secure compound and parking spaces including electric charging points.

Planning consent was confirmed by North West Leicestershire District Council at the very start of January. Jon Brice from NFU Mutual together with construction contractor Winvic, and the lead developer, Paul Shanley from Clowes Developments met on site on Thursday 13^th January for an official sod cutting ceremony to officially kick start the build.

Paul Shanley, Consultant at Clowes Developments commented on the progress of the developments at EMDC.

“Since our ownership of EMDC began we have continually bought world class businesses to the development. Thousands of jobs have been generated on the former power station site and we endeavour to deliver further regeneration with the remaining plots at the site. The addition of two brand-new units for NFU Mutual will bring a new dimension to the site and we are confident the new occupiers will benefit from all that EMDC and its locality has to offer.”

EMDC is a nationally recognised Distribution Park dominated by the one million square foot e-commerce Distribution Centre of M&S. The site is also the home to Moran Logistics who relocated their UK HQ to EMDC and to Birlea Furniture who are one of the fastest growing online furniture providers within the UK. EMDC is also on the doorstep on East Midlands Airport, the only UK inland airport to achieve freeport status. The popular development is a stone’s throw away from the M1, a main arterial road network linking the north to the south of the UK. EMDC provides speedy access to the motorway connecting the site to the rest of the East Midlands within a half an hour drive in either direction.

Jon Brice, NFU Mutual added,

“NFU Mutual are delighted to be working with Clowes Developments to bring through developments across three strategically located sites in the East Midlands.

This project forms a key part of NFU Mutual’s strategy and we are excited that planning permission has been achieved and works are now progressing at EMDC.

This marks a significant milestone in our ongoing story with Clowes Developments, and we can’t wait to watch the construction process orchestrated by world class professionals evolve over the coming months.”

With all units bundled into the landmark deal with NFU Mutual now under construction and progressing at an impressive pace, the project looks to complete in its entirety by the end of the year delivering an impressive lead time of less than 18 months to deliver just short of 1m sq ft of quality logistic facilities across 3 East Midlands sites.