Amazon signs deal for new UK distribution centre
Amazon has signed an agreement to lease 310,000 square feet of warehouse capacity at Prologis Park Dunstable, in Bedfordshire. The new distribution centre, which Prologis UK built speculatively, was completed in autumn 2014. It has achieved an EPC ‘A’ (12) rating and BREEAM ‘outstanding’ accreditation and is set to be operational by the autumn of this year.
The facility is expected to create about 500 new jobs.
“Prologis has a strong relationship with Amazon in the UK and at a global level, so we are delighted to be working with the company again at Dunstable,” said Andrew Griffiths, managing director of Prologis UK. “We believe that Dunstable is a strong location for the logistics sector and we are investing in our site on Boscombe Road because it offers some of the best opportunities for our customers in the South East market.”
Jason Longhurst, director of business and regeneration at Central Bedfordshire Council, commented: “Location was important to the success of this deal, as was the enormous benefit of having previously assigned a Local Development Order to this area, which really helped to speed things up for Amazon. We are now working on a recruitment and training programme with Amazon to help fulfil the 500 jobs.”
The distribution centre at Dunstable is Amazon’s fourth Prologis building in the UK. The company also occupies 545,000 square feet at Prologis Kingston Park in Peterborough; 500,000 square feet at Prologis Park Marston Gate and 161,000 square feet at Prologis Hemel Hempstead.
Prologis currently owns and manages approximately 23 million square feet of logistics and distribution space in the UK.
