Barr’s MK site is on target
Executives from developer Gazeley and A.G. Barr – the soft drinks manufacturer behind popular drinks IRN-BRU, Rubicon and TIZER – were in Milton Keynes last week to see how work was progressing on Barr’s new 265,000 sq ft manufacturing and logistics facility.
The group included Gazeley directors Nigel Godfrey and Alex Verbeek, and A.G. Barr operations director Andrew Memmott and head of financial planning Peter Waddell. They were joined by members of the local council for a site tour of the new development at Magna Park Milton Keynes.
The state-of-the-art building is one of only a few manufacturing facilities currently under construction in the UK, and will create 100 new jobs in the Milton Keynes area. It is due for completion in February 2013, and work is progressing at a good pace with the outer steel works well under way. A.G. Barr will fit out the building thereafter, and it is expected to be fully operational by summer 2013.
Alex Verbeek, UK country director at Gazeley, said: “We pride ourselves on delivering on-time and on-budget to our clients, and we are 100% on track to deliver this build-to-suit project to A.G. Barr in February. We’re delighted to be adding such a renowned manufacturer to our roster of businesses based at our flagship UK development site in Milton Keynes, and at the same time helping to boost local employment with the creation of new jobs.”
Andrew Memmott, operations director at A.G. Barr plc, commented: “We are very pleased to see that construction is underway of our new £41m manufacturing and logistics facility here at Magna Park, and [the] site visit has allowed us to formally mark the occasion. Working with Gazeley allows us to benefit from the team’s expertise in delivering a large complex facility in tight timescales which we are confident will match our needs. When fully utilised this facility will employ approximately 100 people from the local area. The investment we are making in Magna Park is a sign of our confidence in our future development plans and our commitment to the Milton Keynes area.”
The build-to-suit project for A.G. Barr includes the construction of a warehouse, production facility and offices, and is being built using Gazeley’s fast delivery methodology known as G Track.
Gazeley says Magna Park Milton Keynes is its flagship UK development site, designed to provide a high-quality business environment for businesses seeking state-of-the-art logistics warehouse accommodation in a proven logistics location. The scheme provides a fully landscaped, managed environment with generous access and circulation, which has planning permission and so can offer certainty of delivery.
The park covers approximately 210 acres, with planning consent for 4.4m sq ft and is already home to a number of major brands, including John Lewis (650,000 sq ft) and River Island (466,558 sq ft).
It can accommodate a further 3.2m sq ft of development space, with opportunities ranging from 100,000 sq ft to 1m sq ft, deliverable in as little as 24 weeks.
