Fine wine merchants sign up for new A14 business park

Pigeon Investment Management Ltd have confirmed that fine wine merchants Lay & Wheeler will occupy the first of four warehouse units to be built off the A137 and Bobbits Lane at Wherstead, after plannign approval was granted on Wednesday.

The plans, approved unanimously by Babergh District Council, will see four warehouse units created adjacent to a new services, and feature major £6million upgrades to the A137 roundabouts.

According to the firm, advanced discussions for occupiers of the final three units should be completed soon now that the final planning approval relating to landscaping, layout ,appearance and scale for the 8-hectare site have been agreed.

Work on the roundabouts, which will be changed from the teardrop shape to more traditional layouts, will begin before the end of the year and be completed in January or February.

Work on the Lay and Wheeler unit will then begin in the second half of 2022 with the rest completed in 2023.

Andrew Fillmore, from Pigeon, cited the surge in demand for warehouse space fuelled by the rise of online shopping.

He said the development will provide “much-needed high quality, bespoke, logistics space in a key transport corridor which will create circa 300 full time jobs,” as well as “upfront infrastructure investment of £6million to deliver highway improvements and the necessary services, with a total construction spend estimate of £20m”.

The northern portion of the site will be used for landscaping, while an agreement has also been reached with the parish council for measures to tackle anti-social motorcycle use in the area.

Councillor Simon Barrett welcomed the much-needed employment space, while Cllr David Busby said: “I am pleased to see the developers have worked closely with the parish council to resolve the issue of the motorcycles which have been a bane on the lives of residents in that particular area for many a year.”