Glenbrook and HIMOR acquired the 200,000 sq ft site in Valley Road in Birkenhead for £3m in 2020 and now has secured its first major letting to Oops! Tony McDonough reports
Frozen food retailer Oops! Has agreed to rent 100,000 sq ft of warehouse space at the former Park Group (now Appreciate Group) in Wirral.
Joint venture partnership Glenbrook and HIMOR acquired the 200,000 sq ft site in Valley Road in Birkenhead from Appreciate in November last year in a £3m deal. For many years it was the main distribution hub for Park Group’s Christmas Hampers operation.
OOPS! is the new retail arm of frozen food supplier KPFF, which has already opened three stores and plans a further 30 this year alone. It will take the cold store facility at Valley Road on a 10-year lease.
Following the acquisition of the property, the joint venture partnership has further developed its plans for the remainder of the nine-acre site. The project involves the refurbishment of an existing 45,000 sq ft industrial unit, which is due to be completed next month. This will see the creation of nine speculatively developed new units providing a total of 21,000 sq ft industrial accommodation starting from 1,600 sq ft upwards. Designed by locally based firm SD Architects, work on the smaller units is due to start in the second quarter of this year.
Chris Lloyd, investment director at Glenbrook, said: “Securing a tenant for a significant proportion of the site shortly after the purchase demonstrates the strength of the offer at Valley Road. The availability of labour, its location and size of available accommodation will appeal to a range of occupiers.”
James Harrocks at Harrocks Commercial Property represented Oops! Legat Owen & LM6 represented Glenbrook.
Noel Davis, chief executive of Oops!, added: “Over the last six months our business has grown by 300%. The new site on the Wirral will provide us with an superb base to service our stores in Bolton, St. Helens and Preston and provide us with the platform we need to roll out our own frozen food retail brand.”