Developer lays the groundwork for key business park schemes

Preparations are being made for new buildings at a Derbyshire business park, which will create hundreds of jobs.

Clowes Developments has reported that ground works have started on a £50 million bottling plant for supermarket giant Lidl at Dove Valley Park on the A50.

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.

Since then, ground works have commenced on site with the facility expected to be completed as early as 2022.

It will become the first production plant in the UK for the MEG Group.

Once set up, it will supply Lidl with mineral water and soft drinks for its supermarkets across the UK and Ireland.

Meanwhile, land has been prepared for the construction of a speculative scheme, totalling 190,000 sq ft, on Plot 4 at Dove Valley.

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.