As warehouse operators experience increasing difficulties in finding suitable sites along the M1 corridor, the South Yorkshire/North Nottinghamshire belt of the A1 is proving an attractive proposition. 

Prime industrial locations along the M1 Corridor such as DIRFT, EMDC, and Swan Valley have witnessed significant success over the last few years.

Big name occupiers including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's and 99p Stores have all taken large units, while Amazon, Next and Nobia Plc are believed to have large requirements to satisfy.

However, the restricted supply of large existing sites and those coming forward has created a realisation amongst some developers that occupiers may consider looking further a field for the next available opportunity.

Rob Whatmuff, Regional Head of Industrial and Logistics Agency at Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), said: "As a result of the ongoing lack of speculative development, combined with the plethora of deals which have taken place in recent months, the M1 corridor does not necessarily have the large development plots capable of housing the new breed of Regional Distribution Centres and National Distribution Centres of 500,000 sq ft plus.

"The result is that developers are beginning to show more confidence in sites to the east of the region, along the A1. Big name occupiers such as B&Q, Asda, DHL, Wilkinson and DSG to name a few, have all identified the benefits of the A1 corridor by locating there during recent years."

Gladman's 200 acre Vertica1 Park is case in point. Located adjacent to the A1 close to the village of Elkesley in Nottingham, the site has planning permission for the construction of over 2.7m sq ft of floor space. 

Rob believes this site will attract multi-national businesses, retailers and third party distributors, owing to its unique ability to accommodate a single large unit of up to 2m sq ft, not to mention its central location, national connectivity potential, and readily accessible labour force.

He said: "There's a growing trend for increasingly bigger sites and it is becoming more and more difficult to accommodate these along certain stretches of the M1. Gladman's Vertica1 Park is ideally situated, immediately on the A1, with access to the regional and national motorway network. Not only that, the Journey To Work Area that serves Vertica1 Park provides manufacturing and distribution sector employers with a recruitment catchment of over 580,000 people.

"From both a developer and occupier perspective, the A1 also provides a cheaper alternative to the M1 corridor, where land values are at a premium. In addition, salary cost savings of between 7% and 10% against national rates in some sectors, including warehousing and manufacturing."

For more information about Lambert Smith Hampton, please visit their website here: www.lsh.co.uk