News and Blogs

26 October 2020
Will large scale manufacturers take a new approach to property to meet production demands post Covid-19?

By Chris Hyam, Agency Surveyor, Garness Jones

Over the past few weeks and months our team at Garness Jones have been surprisingly pleased at how the industrial commercial property market has performed across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire given the uncertainty we have all faced in 2020.

We’ve continued to do deals on industrial units, both to purchase and rent, throughout the year, although there has of course been a drop off compared to levels of business being done in what was a particularly buoyant 2019.

In the past week alone we have completed sales of both an industrial unit with office space in Hull and a light industrial unit at Priory Park in Hessle.

We have also let another industrial unit in east Hull and been instructed to market a further two properties, a 35,000 sq ft warehouse in Hunmanby and a warehouse in Foster Street, Hull.

As I said, it has been pleasing to see activity continuing in the market, and I feel confident we will see a surge in demand over the coming 12 months.

In fact, given there has been a lack of speculative industrial build in our region for many years, I expect properties coming onto the market to be in very high demand.

This is something we have already seen evidenced in recent weeks, with one unit in particular going to the best offer between a number of interested parties, having previously being sat on the
market for a lengthy period of time without any takers at all.

Time to invest in second and third production sites?

In my role I speak to business owners on a daily basis about their requirements and needs, and of course finding a way around the many restrictions linked to Covid-19 to remain as productive as possible (within a safe and legal environment) has been essential to all this year.

Some businesses have found themselves and their products in demand as much as ever – or even more so – but have found themselves restricted as they have been physically unable to work at full capacity.

This is because measures such as slower line speeds to reduce workers and maintain social distance, one way systems and staggered break times have had to be introduced to remain Covid secure and compliant.

It is already clear to me that some major manufacturing and production companies in our region are already having a re-think as to how they operate moving forward, and considering whether purchasing or renting another property, which they have never previously required, would now be a worthwhile investment.

Imagine the scenario of a large customer looking to place a major order, in a short timeframe.

It’s something a business would rarely, if ever, turn down pre-Covid-19, but currently may be something many are left unable to take on, simply because new rules on social distancing mean they cannot run enough production lines, or have enough staff on site.

By taking on a second facility, a business which has been forced to reduce down from six to four production lines could soon find itself again operating to full capacity, and able to fulfil an order crucial to the success of the business.

As always in business, it will be a case of balancing out the cost of that extra investment against the potential business to be won – or perhaps lost.

I truly believe we will see some businesses looking to take on more property despite the current economic uncertainty, and that is one of the reasons why industrial properties across our region will remain in high demand.