Smart Garden has revealed photography of its soon-to-be opened new logistics hub, named ‘The Eureka Building’, a minute off the A1 at Peterborough.
Paris Natar’s family property company, P.A. Properties Limited, has invested more than £18m in purchasing the land, plus the build. The project is being managed by Paris’s eldest daughter Sara, a qualified surveyor and commercial property investment specialist.
Sara commented: “Our current warehouse at Corby is very old and basic, with just 10,000 pallet spaces. It is also leased and we don’t like paying rent to third parties if we can avoid it. In making this investment, we have ensured our unit is bespoke for Smart’s current and future needs and that it gains at least ‘Very Good’ BREEAM environmental certification.”
Paris added: ”Smart’s 50% growth in 2016 followed by 35% this year means that we have had to completely re-base our logistics strategy. Our new Eureka hub is 250,000 square feet, will be racked for 40,000 pallets and will also include showrooms for our Midlands, East Anglian and Northern customers. Southern and South-Western customers will continue to be served by our Abingdon showrooms. Best of all, while we will still need to recruit for many positions in the locale, the majority of our brilliant team at Corby have indicated they are looking forward to transferring across to Peterborough!”
The physical move from Corby will be completed by the end of October 2017, in ample time to receive Smart’s 2018 inventory pipeline, including over 350 new products being launched at Glee. The new showrooms will be opened by the end of March 2018.
Paris said: “We have expanded from sales of £10m in 2013 to £40m in just four years. This fantastic new structure will facilitate over £100m in sales to our very many retail partners in the United Kingdom, France and throughout Europe…so watch this space!”
