Building starts on giant distribution hub

Pictured (L to R) Richard Hampshire, director of LHL Group; Dean Platts, Hobson & Porter site manager; and Tim Munns Wharfedale Property Management director.

Hull-based construction company, Hobson & Porter, is building the 62,925 sq ft depot for drinks distributor, Matthew Clark Wholesale, which is relocating 90 staff to Thorp Arch Estate, near Wetherby, from Dunnington, near York.

LHL Group, York, will manage the construction for Thorp Arch Estate owner, Rockspring Hanover Property Unit Trust.

The new warehouse will be the third biggest unit on the 385-acre Thorp Arch Estate and the largest warehouse that Rockspring Hanover Property Unit Trust has built for a new tenant. It will be ready for occupation this summer and will feature nine dock levellers, two level-entry goods access doors, a large goods yard and 6,350 sq ft of office space.

Hobson & Porter has also been appointed to build seven new speculative industrial units and a purpose-designed, 12,800 sq ft office and laboratory extension for biotechnology company, Avacta Group.

The new light industrial units, which are expected to be ready by June, will comprise four units of 3,000 sq ft each and three units of 4,000 sq and will extend the existing Ash Way development.

Alex Edwards, contracts manager at Hobson & Porter, said: “We are looking forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with Rockspring on the Thorp Arch Estate and are thrilled to be extending our operations into North Yorkshire.”

Tim Munns, director of Wharfedale Property Management, which manages the estate, added: “The new buildings will provide quality accommodation and continue the process of redeveloping and upgrading the buildings on the estate.”