Industrial construction pipeline strengthens

Industrial construction prospects are improving as planning approvals surge and major manufacturing projects move closer to site.

New Glenigan data highlights growing opportunities across defence, food production, advanced manufacturing and logistics developments.

The July edition of the Glenigan Construction Review shows that detailed planning approvals for industrial projects were worth £2.13 billion in the three months to June, a rise of 22% on the same period a year earlier. Approvals for major new industrial projects (worth over £100 million) rose threefold on the same basis to £603 million.

Planning approvals in the sector rose sharply in regions with traditionally strong industrial bases, notably the East Midlands (where approvals rose almost fivefold compared to a year earlier) and the North East, where they were up threefold.

Meanwhile, the Review shows that manufacturing projects accounted for by far the largest share of new activity in the sector during April-June: two-thirds of all industrial starts, worth some £633 million.

Manufacturing projects in the pipeline

Glenigan data highlights numerous major industrial and manufacturing projects which are in the pipeline and getting underway, which offer new work opportunities.

For example, enabling works have recently started on a £220 million redevelopment of defence contractor BAE Systems’ Rochester site in Kent where a new 32,000 sq m manufacturing facility is to be built. Wilmott Dixon Construction is the main contractor on the scheme – which is BAE’s largest single-site investment in over a decade (Project ID: 21374953).

Meanwhile, fellow defence contractor Rolls-Royce chose McLaughlin & Harvey for its new £100 million-plus Future Programmes Growth Facility, a research and manufacturing facility based at Filton near Bristol. Work is due to start on the scheme – which will focus on air combat – this autumn and run for 18 months (Project ID: 23009010).

The food sector is also generating new manufacturing-led industrial projects. At Trowbridge in Wiltshire, detailed plans have been granted, and TSL Projects has been appointed as the main contractor for a £73.75 million redevelopment to create a new food manufacturing facility for Apetito UK. Work on the scheme is set to start later this year and run for nine months (Project ID: 17111750).

Meanwhile, tenders have been returned, and work is due to start in the autumn on a £22.1 million research and manufacturing facility in Coventry for Fanuc UK (pictured), a leader in industrial robots, machine tools and automation systems. Work on the scheme at Ansty Technology Park, within the area’s aerospace/engineering cluster, is set to run for 18 months (Project ID: 17452694).

Growth in logistics

Meanwhile, the long-term attractions of the warehousing and logistics sector have been underlined by the recent £14.3 billion takeover bid for Segro – the UK’s largest industrial and logistics property owner and developer – by the US group Prologis.

Growth in logistics construction activity is one of the key drivers behind the 16% rise in industrial sector starts next year, which is predicted in the recently published Glenigan Construction Industry Forecast 2026-28.

As it is, some major industrial warehousing schemes are set to get underway in the coming months. At Markfield in Leicestershire, work is due to start this autumn on a £53.12 million redevelopment at Cliffe Hill Farm involving a new storage and distribution unit across almost 65,000 sq m of floorspace (Project ID: 25346387).

Meanwhile, at Panattoni T Park in Southampton, tenders have recently been returned, and work is slated to start early in the new year on a £21 million scheme of six logistics/warehouse units. Work on the project, involving 22,000 sq m of employment space, is due to run for 11 months (Project ID: 24080378).