Why Derby: An opportunity to create sustainable value

Steve Benson, chief executive of Hortons, explains what attracted the company to acquire Sinfin Commercial Park three years ago, and why it is embarking on ambitious plans to transform the estate into one of the region’s leading industrial and logistics destinations.

This month marks the next stage in Hortons’ redevelopment of Sinfin Commercial Park, a 23-acre site two miles south of Derby city centre.

Work begins on the first phase of our masterplan for the estate, beginning with 121,500 sq ft of new-build accommodation.

Over the next three years, we plan to complete the phased development of up to 17 new light industrial and logistics units at Sinfin, totalling an additional 271,500 sq ft, and with a gross development value of £45 million.

Hortons’ investment is significant. Phase One alone includes new estate-wide roads and infrastructure to service the development.

It follows our recent redevelopment of Unit F, a 63,297 sq ft industrial and warehouse building, which has already elevated the quality of the existing accommodation on the estate, supporting our wider vision for the scheme.

So why Derby? And why Sinfin in particular?

Our core focus as a business is the active ownership, regeneration and development of multi-let industrial and logistics estates.

Being independent allows us to take a long-term approach. We look for assets where we can create sustainable value through investment and active management, rather than focusing solely on immediate development profit.

That is what we saw at Sinfin.

The opportunity was to take a tired commercial park and invest in it to create a modern industrial and logistics destination that would better reflect the strength of its location.

Sinfin benefits from being part of an established cluster of high-calibre occupiers and is within walking distance of Rolls-Royce’s world civil aerospace headquarters.

It also has direct access to the A38 and A50, with fast links to the M1 and the wider Midlands logistics market.

For industrial and logistics occupiers, those fundamentals matter. It is one reason industrial take-up in Derby has exceeded the long-term average for the fifth consecutive year.

While that is a strong regional success story, inevitably such a high demand has placed further pressure on local supply.

We’re confident that our investment in Sinfin will go some way to addressing that imbalance.