Mayor joins ceremony marking start of construction at Bedford Link Logistics Park

LondonMetric Property Plc and Graftongate hosted a ceremony at Bedford Link Logistics Park to mark the start of construction, attended by Mayor of Bedford Borough Dave Hodgson and chief executive Phil Simpkins, with other local dignitaries and representatives.

The three warehouses of 106,000 sq.ft. 50,000 sq.ft. and 32,000 sq.ft. will be ready for occupation early next year. The buildings will represent the second phase of a wider development at the site to deliver c700,000 sq.ft. of modern logistic space and representing a total investment by LondonMetric of around £70 million.

The first phase consisted of the delivery of the infrastructure to the site including a new road junction of the A428, which is now complete.

The Bedford Link Logistics Park is expected to create an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs across a range of roles and sectors, as well as a significant number of further jobs during the construction and fit out of the warehouses.

Development manager Nick Heath, of LondonMetric, said: “LondonMetric is delighted to be now bringing forward the scheme, after working closely with the council and other interested parties. We are long term investors in Bedford, already owning the nearby Argos distribution warehouse. We are excited by the prospects for Bedford as a key logistics location and the long term local opportunities that this development will bring.”

Development director Jamie Hockaday, of Graftongate, said: “We are very encouraged by the level of occupier interest that has been received to date, which we believe is testament to the quality of the scheme, recognition of Bedford as a location and Bedford Borough Councils ‘open for business’ attitude for growth.”

Mr Hodgson said: “This welcome investment is further recognition of Bedford Borough’s status as a strategic location for business. There was a lot of interest in this site which demonstrates its attractiveness and its very favourable location. I look forward to the completion of the construction work and the many jobs that will be created for local people.”

For more information on Bedford Link contact the joint letting agents - Lloyd Spencer and Steve Williams at Adroit Real Estate Advisors, or Jamie Catherall and Mark Webster at DTRE.

Further information on Bedford Link is also available at www.bedfordlinklogisticspark.com and the Bedford Link LinkedIn page.