West Yorkshire-based Poundworld Retail Ltd, which has 94 stores nationwide and will open a further six before Christmas, has taken Axis 62, Foxbridge Way, Normanton, the largest available unit in Yorkshire’s main warehousing and distribution base.
The deal was brokered by the Leeds-based industrial agency teams at King Sturge and Carter Towler, acting for AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, which forward-funded the speculative construction of the unit, and industrial agency AWS, Leeds, which acted for Poundworld Retail Ltd.
Poundworld, Birstall, where annual growth is running at more than 30 per cent, has taken Axis 62, near Junction 31 of the M62, on a ten-year lease with a five-year optional break clause at a rent of £4.25 a sq ft.
Offices which form part of the property are being extended before Poundworld, which sells a range of 3,000 products, including many household name brands, at a £1 fixed price, moves in this autumn. Work starts on site this month (September) and is being carried out by the King Sturge Leeds-based Building Consultancy Team.
A partner in King Sturge’s Industrial Agency Team, Richard Harris, who brokered the deal jointly with Ian Greenwood of Carter Towler, says: “This significant deal once again underlines the strength of the M62 logistics market, where there are now no new units available.
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“This unit has been taken to support Poundworld's anticipated annual growth of up to 40 per cent and clearly shows the importance of the budget retail sector, given the current economic climate, and demand within the logistics sector.”
Carter Towler partner and head of industrial agency, Ian Greenwood, says: “Occupier demand in the industrial and logistics sector has steadily increased since the start of the year but the fundamentals in concluding deals remain good location, a good building and flexibility on all sides to bring a deal to fruition.”
Poundworld Retail Ltd, which is planning to open a minimum of 30 new stores a year for the next three years, was founded in 1974 as multi-price retailer, Bargain Centre, by brothers Laurie and Chris Edwards and opened its first store in Wakefield. The first-single-price store opened in 1997 under the brand name Everything’s £1 but the company re-branded to Poundworld in 2004 and opened its first shop in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Poundworld Retail Ltd operations director, Mark Ward, says: “Our policy of selling quality branded goods for a £1 fixed price is extremely popular. We aim to expand the business significantly during the next few years and this warehouse unit, which is ideally-suited for the national motorway network, will provide additional storage and administration space to support this growth.”
