Naylors acquire big shed for Andrew James
July 2014
Naylors Chartered Surveyors have acquired a 125,000 sq ft warehouse on behalf of online kitchen and appliance specialist, Andrew James UK Ltd.
The former Cumbrian Seafoods unit at Foxcover Distribution Park in Seaham was sold by administrators following the closure of the seafood factory in 2013.
Andrew James are a fast growing online kitchen and appliance sales business based in Durham and have expanded considerably in recent years, having previously taken 90,000 sq ft in the former Henderson Garage Doors unit at Bowburn North Industrial Estate. The firm, which employs over 80 people, has been working towards purchasing their own premises over the last two years. The move will provide them with the opportunity to expand further and they will be creating 10 new jobs in the coming year.
Andrew Tomlinson of Andrew James commented: ‘We’ve been considering an opportunity like this for sometime to grow the business and with the help of Naylors and other professionals we have achieved that. There’s a lot of work ahead but this move will enable us to take on further new staff from the local area and we can continue to expand in line with our business strategy.’
Keith Stewart of Naylors who secured the premises for Andrew James added: ‘We have a well established relationship with Andrew James, having known them for a number of years and working with them to acquire the unit on their behalf was straightforward. The firm required a large distribution depot due to their expanding business and as they were keen to stay in the Durham area there were limited existing opportunities. We identified Foxcover as a good logistical location for the business going forward and given the number of highly skilled staff that live in the borough the opportunity was one that fitted well’.
Foxcover 7 & 8 is a detached factory/warehouse unit built to a high specification; it was originally developed by Grantside in 2006 and subsequently converted into a food preparation unit. It occupies an 8.3 acre site and includes offices, canteen facilities, cold storage, staff amenity areas and a large services yard, it also benefits from eight dock level loading doors and over 200 car parking spaces. The site is well located in relation to the regional arterial road network, as well as the North East ports including Tees Port, The Port of Tyne and the port at Seaham.
HTA Real Estate and JLL acted on behalf of the receivers. Simon Hill of HTA added: ‘The demand for units of this size is increasing in the region and it is encouraging to see the market improving with companies like Andrew James making significant investment in property for the benefit of their business”