Event Summary

Industrial & Logistics 2025 | Summary, slides + photos

8 May 2025 10:09 Comments (0)

Is the shed market staring down the barrel of a supply crisis? How are turbulent Trump tariffs impacting the sector? In a world now underpinned by AI, is this the time for Atom Valley and data centres to shine? All of this and more was on the agenda at Place North West’s 2025 North West Industrial and Logistics conference.

This event was sponsored by Harworth, Glencar, Aew Architects, Waterman and Brookbanks

Unsettled times

Economic volatility is the biggest factor facing the industrial and logistics sector, according to attendees at this year’s sold-out event.

An audience poll showed 65% of people held this view, while problems with the planning system trailed in second place with 17% of the votes.

Build cost inflation, constrained supply, and the cost of land showed up as lesser issues.

This uncertainty was addressed by Darren Hill, director at CBRE, who detailed the state of the market.

He said clients were putting start dates “on hold” and saying “we’ve not made a decision yet” as landlords tried to get deals across the line.

He said take-up for quarter one of 2025 is “significantly down”, particularly in comparison to the post-covid years of 2021/22 when there were “fierce levels of take up”.

But he added: “Deals are happening and there are a number of large requirements for the North West currently in the market, so the picture could change quickly.”

In terms of the development pipeline, he said Greater Manchester is severely restricted with just three units [larger than 100,000 sq ft] under construction, though it’s good news for Merseyside and Wirral as supply is weighted in their direction.

However, when describing GM’s target rents, Hill said: “It’s a strong, strong story.”

Around Trafford Park and Manchester Airport, they’re £14 or £15/sq ft for mid box and £11 per sq ft for big box, though this drops to less than £9/sq ft for the bigger units in the likes of Speke and Knowsley.

From left: Darren Hill, Emily Speak, and Kate Howe discuss the North West’s logistics market. Credit: PNW

Hill also shared some positive investment stats from CBRE colleagues, which showed distribution and multi-let industrial sentiment are both on an upward trajectory.

Kate Howe, director of Tritax Big Box Developments, agreed economic volatility is “causing bumps in the road” but said: “I can see that changing in the next 12 months. Occupiers are going to have to get used to making decisions when they can’t predict what the global economic situation is going to be.”

Emily Speak, director of asset management for Peloton Real Estate, said other factors were causing delays too: “Things are taking longer to convert as [occupiers] have got to get full board approval. That puts us in a precarious situation.”

Planning progress

Howe said: “We’re starting to see movement in the right direction [in relation to the planning system] when it comes to the industrial and logistics sector. It’s starting to get more input from government and the profile of the sector is starting to rise.”

Planning lawyer Rebecca Roffe, partner at CMS, also acknowledged greater government focus on a changing sector and added: “For the first time, we have reference to data centres in the NPPF. It requires authorities to plan for and make decisions in the context of the importance of data centres and other advanced manufacturing and modern technological jobs. We have moved from a position of no policy support.”

Power hungry

Howe said: “One of the first things we want to know when we’re looking at sites is how we get the infrastructure in. Can we get electricity and how do we keep it secure.”

Speak said this was a particular challenge for HGV EV charging: “There’s a huge delay in the power supply to get these sites up and running.”

Craig Adamoli, senior director of data centre transactions for JLL, knows all about the power challenge, particularly when it comes to the burgeoning data centre sector. He said: “More data has been created in the last three years than all of history.”

London is responsible for 90% of the UK’s data centre storage capacity, but a power shortage means developers are now looking North for land.

“Manchester is a very viable place to get London’s overflow. Manchester is emerging as a significant digital and tech hub and many view it as the UK’s secondary data centre market,” he said.

View Craig Adamoli’s slides – North West data centre market

Craig Adamoli outlined the region’s data centre potential. Credit: PNW

To address the power supply issue, he added: “We have got to be serious about small modal nuclear reactors and other types of technology. It’s not about attracting data centres, there’s a glide path for these things, it’s four or five years before they can come to market, and it’s always going to be impacted by the [National] Grid.”

Dan Whelan, deputy editor at Place North, asked what the government should be doing to improve grid capacity. Mat Capper, director of utilities for Brookbanks, said: “I think we are looking at large and substantial investment in the grid to accommodate things like data centres.

“We see, in the South, enormous constraints and there’s a real divide positively for the North in that we don’t have that level of constraint. Also, the lack of water scarcity issues in the North tends to lend itself to a more favourable outlook.”

Insatiable demand

Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity programme director at Blackpool Council, understands the world’s “insatiable demand for data” – his borough’s enterprise zone is a landing station for a transatlantic fibre optic cable which carries a third of the world’s internet traffic and is earmarked for a data centre cluster branded as Silicon Sands.

He said capitalising on schemes such as off-shore wind farms would be paramount for the authority and outlined his borough’s ambition to deliver data centres and achieve its net-zero targets, which are “in direct conflict with each other” due to their energy-hungry nature.

“Data centres also produce enormous amounts of waste heat. We are pursuing new versions, liquid cooled data centres, which use half the energy. We aim to utilise this waste heat for a district heating scheme.”

Panellists discussed the barriers and opportunities around developing data centres. Credit: PNW

Atom Valley

Mark Robinson, director of economy and place for Rochdale Council, outlined the vision for Atom Valley, a collaboration between the councils of Bury, Rochdale and Oldham to create 17m sq ft of flexible employment space, 20,000 new jobs, and 7,000 homes along the M62 corridor.

He said: “It’s an opportunity to boost the competitiveness of the northern boroughs and rebalance the Manchester authorities – and an opportunity for the whole of the UK – to deliver something really special.”

View Mark Robinson’s slides – Atom Valley Overview

It’s also good news for the industrial and logistics sector as the area’s productivity will major on advanced manufacturing and materials.

Discussing the Northern Gateway aspect of the site, for which plans for an employment complex bigger than Trafford Park have just been submitted, Anna Relph, director at Turley said: “We have applied for about half of the floor space that is allocated and it is one of the largest planning applications ever submitted in a single outline application.

“There are no occupiers lined up at the moment and we are trying to set up a planning application that is as flexible as possible, to accommodate whatever might come in the next 15 to 20 years.”

Iain Griffin, development director at Russell LDP, addressed concerns about the labour market in terms of delivering such a large project.

“Yes, there is a skills shortage, but we are talking to colleges and universities to get them ready for the site while we’ve got a number of years’ lead in,” he said.

“We do have some time to ensure the skills and supply chain are present.”

The sheer scale of Atom Valley presents a potentially transformational opportunity for GM, according to panellists. Credit: PNW

Meanwhile Dan Needham, senior development director at Harworth, said the scope of the Atom Valley project was great news for the other side of the Pennines too.

Building on Oldham and Rochdale’s strength in manufacturing, he said: “You jump across the border into Kirklees and Calderdale – those districts of West Yorkshire share very similar economies and they are really constrained with land opportunities. You can get to Atom Valley from those districts in 15, 20 minutes. It is an opportunity for the entire North of England.”