Drone helps market new 'state-of-the-art' warehouse in Cannock

Just completed, Conneqt Alpha is a 153,800 sq ft unit with 16 loading doors on the Kingswood Lakeside site beside the M6 toll motorway. Owned by Bridges Fund Management and Opus Land, it was completed last month and they are now looking for a company to move in.

To show off the building to its best advantage, the owners commissioned a video including drone footage to show potential buyers the full scale and scope of the building, which is being offered for sale or lease.

Cannock Chase Council is among those supporting the development of the Kingswood Lakeside site, which aims to create 425 jobs when fully completed.

Kingswood Lakeside was the first project to receive backing from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) investment fund. The site was previously an open-cast mine which opened in 1939 and closed in 1959. It has been under development since 2002.

Two industrial units covering 14 acres and 283,000 sq ft – of which Conneqt Alpha is the first, with Conneqt Beta to be built next – received £7million in funding from the Combined Investment Fund (CIF). Other funding, of £1.73million, has come from the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership; and from Opus Land’s joint venture partner Bridges Fund Management, a specialist sustainable and impact investor.

The land on which the park sits was owned by Staffordshire County Council.

Victoria Turnbull, joint managing director of Opus Land said: “This is our fourth development on Kingswood Lakeside and the first in partnership with Bridges Fund Management. It is really important to us that these buildings are sustainable.

"This is shown in the way we have designed them, including achieving that prestigious EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) ‘A’ rating which is held by less than two per cent of buildings in the UK. We are really proud of the work we’ve done here.”

Councillor Gordon Alcott, economic development and planning chief at Cannock Chase Council said: “Kingswood Lakeside is proving to be a great success story. The site is already home to leading national companies including DHL, Unilever, Veolia, APC and HellermanTyton.

“The COnneqt buildings are clear evidence of the increasing confidence being shown in the District, whether as a great location for companies to serve the UK or as place to find a skilled and dedicated workforce.”