Clowes lays the groundwork for key business park schemes

Clowes Developments has prepared the way for new buildings at a Derbyshire business park, which will create hundreds of jobs.

Ground works have started on a £50 million bottling plant for supermarket giant Lidl at Dove Valley Park, near Foston.

The 50,000 sq metre water processing, bottling and distribution site has been hailed as the “largest single investment in South Derbyshire since Toyota”.

A planning application for the plant was submitted to South Derbyshire District Council and approved by the authority’s planning committee back in December 2019.

It follows a deal with international real estate firm Hines UK, together with its joint venture investment partner, for the forward funding of 12 speculative developments of over 750,000 sq ft of logistic facilities across the East Midlands. Plot 4 at Dove Valley is one of those 12 developments.

Greg Cooper, managing director and head of industrial and logistics at Hines UK, said: “This was a particularly attractive opportunity given the paucity of new stock arriving on the market, which continues to see unprecedented tenant demand as the volume of transactions continue to soar, particularly for modern and fit-for-purpose units.

“We’re delighted to be working with Clowes who have an unparalleled track record for delivering first class industrial and logistics facilities.”

The works completed so far on Plot 4 involve major infrastructure investment, which will benefit the remaining 40 acres of development land and the business park’s existing occupiers, which includes JCB Power Systems, Futaba International, Tophat, Truma and Kuehne and Nagel.