Morrisons - Sittingbourne

The deal

An £80m purchase for Morrisons of a one million square foot eco-friendly distribution centre in Kent.Morrisons had originally agreed to let the building in a deal which would have been one of the largest ever pre-lets in the South East. However, when it became apparent that the building’s developers and owners were seeking to sell the investment, Morrisons decided to act quickly to purchase the distribution centre.

The Site

Located at G. Park in Sittingbourne, close to the M2 motorway, the site will improve transport efficiency to 65 Morrisons stores across the South East and will result in 22 million fewer kilometres being travelled per annum – equivalent to 2.6m kg of CO2 per year. A number of innovative environmentally friendly technologies will be incorporated into the site including rain water harvesting, recycling of supplier packaging, energy efficient lighting and low water use appliances.

• " This major new facility will enable us to better service our growing business. As one of the UK’s leading supermarket chains it is important that we continually develop our infrastructure to enable us to deliver exceptional service to our customers. "

  James Brook, Development Surveyor Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc

• " The negotiations were tough but there was also a significant amount of high level co-operation from other advisers which allowed us to keep the momentum of the deal going so it could be delivered in under a week. We are very proud of this achievement and delighted that it will enable Morrisons to further develop its business. "

  Paul Ayre, Managing Partner Gordons LLP

How helped

Gordons’ long standing relationship with Morrisons and our experience of major distribution centre deals meant that the bespoke team, comprising lawyers from our commercial property, construction and banking departments, managed to complete the complicated deal in less than one week.