HelloFresh has leased the recently completed 118,000 sq ft facility for the preparation and distribution of its popular meal-kit boxes. The wider 1.85 million sq ft development in Spondon is to become a dedicated ‘state-of-the-art’ food manufacturing and distribution campus, with HelloFresh being SEGRO’s debut tenant.
Kate Hancock, Director of SmartParc (pictured right) and Andrew Pilsworth, SEGRO’s Managing Director, National Logistics (pictured left), were joined by HelloFresh UK CEO, Laurent Guillemain (pictured centre) for site’s opening last week.
“We thought this site was the ideal location for our third facility in the UK,” said Laurent Guillemain.
He continued: “The first reason was the talent pool in Derby. Secondly, the transport accessibility of the location is important to us as an e-commerce and food distribution company. Thirdly, we really believe in the vision of SmartParc; it’s a futuristic, collaborative hub, really focussed on food business – perfect for us.”
SmartParc’s Kate Hancock described a very positive relationship with the meal-kit company: “We’ve worked very closely with HelloFresh to design this building specifically for them, with food in mind of course, but also sustainability. We have done everything we can to achieve a Very Good BREEAM rating here, including a solar PV installation on the roof. We’re taking in power from nearby wind turbines. Much of the rest of the park will be linked up on an energy loop.”
On the sustainability credentials of the wider park, Andrew Pilsworth was keen to explain the collaborative benefits with other future occupiers: “Much like for HelloFresh, every building on the park will be designed specifically for the customers. However, the thing that makes this park different to anything else is that the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts; it’s about more of these food processing businesses sharing heat, cooling and energy, specifically solar. Having a pooled heating and cooling ring not only means we can be more sustainable here, but we can save money for these businesses.”
The second SmartParc building began construction in April 2022, with the remainder of the park planned for construction over the next couple of years, including units for SMEs, which start at approximately 400m2.
Distribution of HelloFresh’s meal box kits will begin from the site this week.
