Tuesday, March 11, 2014


Business Argus


Grade A warehouse has sold for £16.3m


By Jo Barnes 01633 777240 jba@gwent-wales.co.uk Twitter @SWABusiness


AGRADEAdistribution ware- house atGwent Euro Park near Magor has sold for £16.3m. The 20-acreWestway site, located


at the entrance of the distribution park and currently occupied by Tesco, has been bought by the South African-based Leftfield Capital. Tesco are staying on the site as tenants. Dove Haigh Philips and the Landwood Group, two niche prop- erty consultancies, combined to sell the warehouse. Westway comprises a 253,000 sq


ft Tesco distribution warehouse within a large self-contained site with an annual rent of in excess of £1.5m on a 15-year lease. The net yield was 8.9 per cent. The building was sold on behalf


of the Joint Fixed Charge Receivers. The Landwood Group, Manchester and Leeds-based spe- cialists in recovery work, and Dove Haigh Phillips, marketed the property. Mike Dove, director of Leeds-based property consultancy Dove Haigh Phillips, said:“We received strong interest in Westway from quality sources, includingUKfunds, property com- panies and overseas investors.We were especially impressed with the performance of Leftfield Capital,who were represented by Kim Killeen of KAProperty Services Ltd, and delivered exact- lywhat they promised.” Kim Killeen said: “The investment in


Admiral’s pre-tax profits rise


ADMIRAL Group, set to open new offices in Newport city cen- tre in May, announced a seven per cent rise in pre-tax profits. The profit before tax was


£370m for the year to December 2013, an increase of seven per cent over the previous year. Henry Engelhardt, group chief


executive officer of Admiral, said: “2013 was the year of the baked potato. It was a good, solid year, something on the plate that is appreciated but doesn’t really grab the spotlight. This is a comfort food set of results. Why the baked potato? Because the year was solid, but not flashy. “We made more money than


ever before, we grew customer numbers a little bit, we launched one new overseas business (comparenow.com), but there was no growth surge, there were no claims shocks; we just went about our business.”


By Robert Lloyd Griffiths, IoDWales


AS Director of the Institute of Directors inWales I get to meet and interact with many of the 200,000 plus businesses onmytravels up and downWales and Iamalso privileged to performthe role of Wales Autism Employment Ambassador. As ambassadormymessage to the business community is that many individuals with an autistic spec- trum disorder canmake excellent employees and itmakes sound com- mercial sense to give them the oppor- tunity to flourish within a business. I was therefore particularly delight-


Gwent Euro Park near Magor


their infrastructure by Tesco and the large StModwen Development close to the site, plus improved road accessibility, convinced us of the longevity of this location, which services 400 Tesco stores throughoutWales.” Gwent Euro Park is a prime dis-


tribution location at Junction 23A of the M4. Tesco has invested in Westway with two wind turbine and associated infrastructure on site. The building itself has 60 ful- ly-equipped loading bays, a single- storey office and amenity block, 222 car-parking spaces and 138


spaces for lorry trailers.Anearby new link road has recently opened providing direct access to Newport. This road also services Glan Llyn and Celtic Business Park, a 600-acre regeneration scheme by StModwen including 4,000 new homes.


World Courier opens branch to support life sciences firms


WORLDCourier, a specialist cou- rier company, has opened a new facility in Pontypool. The firmdistributes pharmaceu- ticals and biological samples under strict temperature con- trolled conditions to locations around the world. The decision to open locally was made after the company attended Biowales last year and was impressed by the growing infra- structure to support life sciences firmsinWales and the growth potential of the sector following the launch of the £100 million Life Sciences Investment Fund. AdditionallyWorld Courier has


had a long-standing relationship with many life science companies inWales for several years nowand wanted to enhance service offer- ings by committing to a local office offering immediate, on-demand response and a full suite of pre- conditioned shipping solutions. World Courier is an


UKoffice network count to six. The new Pontypool office opened ahead of Biowales 2014where World Courier is exhibiting. Economy Minister Edwina Hart


said: “Establishing an operating base here will provide significant benefits to existing pharmaceuti- cal services companies inWales further strengthen the sector sup- ply chain and provide a strong platformfor future growth.” Welsh companies were previous-


Edwina Hart, Minister for Economy, Science and Transport


AmerisourceBergen company which is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical services compa- nies serving the US, Canada and selected global markets. The new facilitywhich benefitted


from theWales Economic Growth Fund, increases theWorld Courier


ly serviced fromWorld Courier’s London office and the new facility will mean fewer vehicles travelling betweenWales and London each day, reducing their carbon foot- print and cutting costs. Customers shipping biological samples and medical devices will benefit from the local presence and improved response times, as well as those clients shipping docu- ments and clinical trial supplies to ensure local companies can main- tain their competitiveness.


Follow us on Twitter: @SWABusiness


ed tomake a presentation onmyrole toWales’ Anchor Companies at a recent mini summit at Airbus Defence and Space in Newport. I outlinedmyrole and also spoke about a new initiative that is being supported by Edwina Hart, the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport. This initiative involves the estab- lishment of an autism one-stop shop, which will provide employers with tailored advice and support on all aspects of employing those on the autistic spectrum. The initiative is being spearheaded


by Autism CymruCEOHugh Morgan,who is generally acknowl- edged to have taken a lead role in the development of the autism strategy inWales. Gwenda Thomas, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Welsh Government also deserve praise for the way inwhich they are addressing these critical issues for those withASD. To have the opportunity to speak to


the Anchor Companies and to be working on the one-stop shop project with them is of huge significance as they are those withinWaleswho are part of a global or international organisation orwhich have aWelsh headquarters or a significant corpo- rate presence inWales. This project will therefore focus on changing perceptions at the highest possible levels of business inWales. If we can get it right with the big companies, then it gives us a better opportunity of cascading this impor- tant message throughout businesses up and downWales. I’m proud to be working in this role,


and if you are in business and would like to simply find out more or to dis- cuss the opportunities of employing someone with an autism spectrum disorder, please contactmeon Robert.LloydGriffiths@iod.com


Talking business


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