As has been previously reported, the take-up of warehousing space around the UK is shooting up at a notably high pace. As recently noted by Savills, the actual take-up of such space has risen above that of 6.99m square feet for the first quarter of this year, signifying a 16% rise from the 6m square feet reported in the previous quarter, as well as serving up a value 24% higher than the long-term average of 5.6m square feet.

Looking at how and where the take-up has seen the most growth, much of this can be attributed to mega-shed deals, including that of the 1m square foot Midlands-based distribution fulfilment centre of Amazon. In fact, Savills reported that there were a total of four major deals which totalled at over 500,000 square feet each for the quarter alone – to provide information for comparison, a mere eight of such deals were recorded for the entirety of last year.

Within the results, the South West of England enjoyed its best ever quarter, with 2.15m square feet transacted over the period – a value sitting equal to that of the entirety of both 2015 and 2014 combined. For the region, one of those largest deals reported was The Range, taking up some 1.158m square feet of space at a Bristol-based facility.

Highlighting the wonderful kick-off to the year, Richard Sullivan, Savills’ National Head of Industrial and Logistics explained how the sheer amount of take-up exceeded expectations set for the UK. Of course, online retailers still maintain a level of dominance in both the distribution and industrial sectors, he highlights, yet also nodding to a notable level of demand from other occupier archetypes. Looking forward, he added: “There continues to be a number of unfulfilled requirements in the market and for this reason, we anticipate that take-up will remain strong as 2016 continues.”