Dedicated e-commerce companies took 25% of all floorspace let and sold in the UK in 2019, according to research by JLL.
Ed Cole, head of logistics, JLL said: “Retailers continued to drive demand in the market and last year over a quarter of all Grade A take-up was in dedicated e-com facilities.”
Jon Sleeman, director of UK research, JLL, said: “Structural changes in the market and companies looking to restructure their supply chains drove demand for logistics floorspace last year and we expect to see these trends continue this year.”
Take-up of Grade A warehouse units of more than 100,000 sq ft and over reached 19.9m sq ft, matching the five-year annual average according to JLL.
The national vacancy rate stood at 9% at the end of 2019, up from 8% a year earlier. Over the course of 2019 available supply, including speculative space under construction, rose by 15%.