Barberry nears completion of £35m speculative development

Construction at Hilton Cross Business Park, near Wolverhampton, where Belbroughton-based Barberry is delivering warehouse units of 47,750 sq ft, 62,000 sq ft and 113,000 sq ft on a 12-acre site, is expected to reach practical completion later this summer.

South Staffordshire District Council approved the company’s detailed planning application for the development, which bring much-needed investment and jobs to the region. The development, known as Wolf Pack, is located at junction one of the M54 motorway.

Barberry joined by Councillor Roger Lees, leader of the council, and Grant Mitchell, the council’s assistant director of enterprise and growth, at the site to check on progress. The development is being delivered by main contractor Benniman.

Barberry was selected by the local authority as the preferred purchaser of the last two remaining plots on the business park. The units are being built to exacting energy efficiency and sustainability levels, to include photovoltaic cells on the south facing slopes of the roof and provisions for electric vehicle charging points and will achieve EPC A and BREEAM Excellent ratings.

Development director Jon Robinson said: “This is a fantastic example of the private and public sector working hand-in-hand to deliver an outstanding development which will generate economic benefits and create new jobs for the region. Barberry has an excellent relationship with South Staffordshire District Council and it is great to be working with them to deliver this prime, motorway-connected logistics scheme of more than 222,750 sq ft of self-contained, high quality accommodation.”

“We are excited to see the excellent progress being made at Wolf Pack. These three market-leading mid-box industrial/logistics units will help to address the ongoing pent-up demand for high quality mid-box warehouse and manufacturing units in the region.”

He added: “Wolf Pack is being delivered with due consideration for many of the environmental, social and corporate governance ratings measuring the sustainability and social impact of new buildings. Barberry is using some of the latest environmental technologies to reduce the cost of occupation and cut the carbon footprint of our buildings.

“Our market leading development is already generating a great deal of interest from potential occupiers in both the e-commerce and manufacturing sectors, providing an outstanding logistics location particularly for those supplying into i54 on Junction 2 of the M54 and those looking for proximity to an excellent labour demographic ”

Councillor Lees said: “The council are delighted to see the progress Barberry have made in bringing the Wolf Pack site forward for development. When we sold the plots to Barberry, one of our key drivers was seeing the much-needed local jobs and benefits to the local economy as quickly as possible and it’s great to see that coming to fruition. I’m also very pleased with the high sustainability standards Barberry are bringing to the development to minimize its impact, which are very much in tune with the council’s aspirations for climate change and future growth.”

The Wolf Pack development includes eco-friendly features such as high efficiency air source heat pumps, an EPC A rating, LED lighting, photovoltaic cells and electric vehicle charging points, designed to reduce CO2 emissions and costs of occupation. Local occupiers include Tarmac, Moog, Jaguar Land Rover, DHL and Kuehne + Nagel.

Barberry has a 4.6 million sq ft industrial and logistics development pipeline with a gross development value of in excess of £800 million. It is developing a £40m state-of-the-art manufacturing and design facility for a global leader in engine and flight controls systems in Gloucestershire. The 209,000 sq ft centre of excellence for Moog’s Aircraft Controls Segment is being built on a 10-acre site at Ashchurch, Tewkesbury.