Businesses are scrambling to snap up industrial property across North Staffordshire as soon as it hits the market as a result of a national shortage of warehousing, according to agents at Harris Lamb.
While there has been a widespread shortage of industrial property for a number of years, the Covid-19 pandemic has escalated the issue.
The agents say demand has partly been driven by retailers who were forced to close for months and rely on online trading, leading to them sourcing additional warehousing, but also as a result of the well-documented supply issues which have seen businesses order and stockpile goods to ensure their customers were not affected.
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Becky Thomas, of Harris Lamb's Stoke-on-Trent office – which is based on Festival Park – said that with supply failing to meet demand, the industrial opportunities that become available are being placed under offer within weeks.
She said: "The dearth of industrial property in the region – and it is a problem throughout the country – is leading to would-be occupiers acting very quickly to secure suitable sites rather than seeking other properties and risking missing their window of opportunity."
Becky said that a 10,554 sq ft trade counter warehouse on the Parkhouse Industrial Estate, in Newcastle-under-Lyme – which is also home to national occupiers such as FedEx, Howdens, Screwfix and Toolstation – was under offer within a month of being placed on the market by Harris Lamb and joint agent Gerald Eve on behalf of ATS Euromaster.
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She added that a further property – a 3,460 sq ft warehouse on the Loomer Road Industrial Estate, also in Newcastle – is already attracting strong interest from potential occupiers despite having only been brought to the market within the last few days.
Becky said: "This particular property was placed on the market just last week on behalf of a private investment client, and already we have been inundated with enquiries to either lease or purchase the property.
"Based on the high levels of interest, and lack of available stock, we anticipate continued strong interest in the property and hope to place this under offer before the end of the year."
She added: "We are hopeful that 2022 will bring investment into further industrial development within the area to meet the huge demand that is so far escalating, rather than abating."