Parcel company takes 10 year lease on second warehouse at huge distribution park just north of East Midlands Airport

Global logistics operator DHL has taken a second big unit at the vast SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway being built on the Leicestershire/Derbyshire border.

The parcel company has taken a 10 year lease on a 192,000 sq ft facility at the huge distribution park next to the M1, just north of East Midlands Airport.

It takes the total space pre-let to DHL there close to 900,000 sq ft.

Back in August, planning permission was granted for a 670,000 sq ft building for DHL on the warehouse park – covering an area the size of about 80 football pitches and likely to provide employment space for hundreds of people.

East Midlands Gateway – which is served by its own rail freight interchange – is already home to a number of big warehouse buildings occupied by Amazon, Very, XPO Logistics and Kuehne and Nagel.

Once complete, it will provide six million sq ft of space and create an estimated 7,000 jobs.

DHL also has a significant base at the nearby airport.

BusinessLive recently revealed how East Midlands Airport’s freight operations and the logistics firms around it were creating more new jobs right now than any other part of the region.

The airport has seen a 20 per cent growth in the amount of freight going through it, after increasing demand for dedicated express freight operators such as DHL, UPS and FedEx and an increase in people shopping more online.

Andrew Pilsworth, SEGRO’s business unit director for national logistics, said: “The latest addition with DHL at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway continues to highlight the demand for modern, sustainable space that is supremely well located.

“We have now contracted over half the available space, securing inward investment and creating jobs across the region.

“There’s a vibrant atmosphere on site and it’s good to see the high levels of activity of our customers during these uncertain times.”

He said the on-site rail terminal, operated by Maritime, was now operational with trains transporting goods across the UK linking other strategic rail freight interchanges and ports such as Southampton, Felixstowe, London Gateway and the Channel Tunnel.

Mr Pilsworth said that since construction began on site in 2017, SEGRO had spent £100 million on earthworks, upgrading transport and road infrastructure, including building a new by-pass around the village of Kegworth.

The site is seen as geographically significant because of its central England location, and proximity to the cities of Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.