Warburtons agrees 25-year lease on new distribution centre

The 65,847 square foot complex is still under development and is part of the 150-acre Symmetry Park scheme in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Advised by Yorkshire-based law firm Gordons, Warburtons has agreed to take a 25-year lease of the distribution centre, which will be fitted with on-site EV charging and solar PV arrays​​. Work is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2025.

Headquartered in Bolton, Warburtons currently produces more than 2m products per day at its 11 bakeries. From its 18 depots, the company delivers fresh baked​​ goods to 18,500 stores across the UK every morning.

‘Responsibility to lead and constantly innovate’

Jim Norton, head of distribution network transformation at Warburtons, said: “As the largest bakery brand in the UK, we have a responsibility to lead and constantly innovate. That’s not only true with our products but also with the facilities in which we bake and distribute.”​

Commercial property partner at Gordons, Sarah Ratcliffe, was the primary adviser to Warburtons and Norton was grateful for the support: “The practical commercial advice provided by Sarah and the team at Gordons played a pivotal role in enabling us to secure the pre-let of our new depot.”​

Ratcliffe added: “It was a pleasure to advise Warburtons on the pre-let deal.​

“The new facility will only serve to further strengthen Warburtons’ business. We look forward to seeing the state-of-the-art highly sustainable building coming to fruition now that the deal has been agreed.”​

In other news, a new AI and machine learning tool has identified five emerging flavour trends​​ to look out for during the summer of 2024.