Investment in the UK’s retail logistics sector hit a record high in 2020, according to the latest research.
The data comes from Property company Savills, which found that the retail logistics sector saw record investment with the e-commerce sector booming during the last 12 months.
Last-mile delivery facilities and distribution warehouses have become a key component of the commercial property landscape in recent years and investment into distribution warehouses reached £4.7 billion last year.
This represents a 25 per cent increase on the previous year and £500 million higher than the previous record, set in 2014.
Experts believe that trends have been moving towards a more online and delivery focused offering from the retail sector, but this was accelerated during the first national lockdown in Spring 2020 and has continued to grow throughout the past year.
The technology boom is re-shaping the commercial property market, with trends moving towards logistics and industrial investment, with deals and acquisitions in the past few months reflecting the changing landscape.
Recent data from the Office for National Statistics indicated that 36 per cent of all retail sales were online in November, which is almost double the figure in February 2020, which was 19 per cent.
As a result, many traditional retailers have looked to acquire more warehouse space, with every £1 billion spent online requiring an additional 900,000 sq feet of logistics space according to recent research.
Tom Scott, Director in the Industrial Investment team at Savills, said: “The supply and demand dynamics of the occupier market will continue to drive competition for the best assets, which in turn will generate strong investment volumes.”
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