Big Box take-up boost brings positivity to Scottish market

Positive signs in the UK Big Box market, revealed in a Jones Lang LaSalle report, are good news for the Scottish market, the company says.

H1 of 2013 saw a 23% increase in floorspace take-up across the country.

Nationally, available Grade A floorspace dropped 13% over the first six months of 2013. At mid-2013 the immediate availability of new space was 76% below its pre-recession peak.

Strong investor demand and a shortage of prime stock, however, have seen prime yields continue to improve over H1.

Neil Cockburn, Lead Director, Jones Lang LaSalle, Glasgow, said: “These results, which come from Jones Lang LaSalle’s Big Box Industrial and Logistics Market report for H1 of 2013, are encouraging for the UK as a whole.

“The report reinforces positivity for the Big Box market across the UK, and that can only be a good thing for Scotland, where we have seen signs that some of the larger corporates are starting to make positive moves.

“While the UK picture reflects strong activity from the retail distribution sector, that isn’t so much the case in Scotland, where the service sector is currently dominating.”

The Jones Lang LaSalle Big Box Industrial and Logistics Market report, highlights a fall in the amount of available floorspace across the UK.

At the end of June 2013 6.8 million sq ft of new floorspace remained available, the lowest level in Jones Lang LaSalle’s records dating back to 2005. The overall level of availability at the end of June 2013 represented a vacancy rate of around 9% nationally compared with the company’s estimate of the Grade A built stock.

Eleven per cent of the available space is located in Scotland.

Nationally, retailers accounted for 47% (4.6 million sq ft) of all Grade A take-up in H1 2013, compared with 39% in H2 2012.

Across the UK logistics companies accounted for 28% of total demand in H1 2013, with manufacturers accounting for 6% of total demand. The remaining 19% was taken by ‘Other’ companies.