Ilva, a Danish rival to Ikea, is opening a 60,385 sq m (650,000 sq ft) head office and warehouse depot to support its 20-store expansion in the UK.
It has taken SladenAston’s Beast and Whopper combination at Wheatley Hall Park in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The company is expected to create around 250 jobs.
Along with another base in Hull, totalling 380,000 sq ft, the warehouse will serve three of its British stores, which will open in the spring. These include Thurrock, Gateshead and Manchester. Each store totals more than 100,000 sq ft.
Whopper was the first phase of SladenAston Developments’ refurbished warehouse scheme and totalled 23,225 sq m (250,000 sq ft). The second phase of the scheme totalling 37,160 sq m (400,000 sq ft) of warehousing, is known as Beast. The buildings boasted 5.5m eaves and 24 hour access. Joint agents Gent Visick, M3 and Knight Frank were quoting £3.50 per sq ft.
Logistics firm TNT will run the depot operating 60 trucks and 100 trailers to deliver the 10,000-strong range of goods nationwide.
An Ilva spokesman said: “The new warehouse in Doncaster is an integral entry into the UK market and will form the back bone of our trucking operation for the accurate and timely delivery of bulk, flat-pack and accessory items to the ILVA stores for home delivery.”
