A huge Derbyshire warehouse for a Chinese e-commerce company that could create more than 900 jobs is set for approval.
The scheme, for Dove Valley Park on the A50 near Foston, would see a 37,000-square-metre (402,000-square-foot) warehouse built to the requirements of a prospective “leading” Chinese e-commerce company, which cannot be named due to confidentiality reasons.
A scheme for this warehouse, another smaller warehouse and an innovation centre to support apprenticeships via Burton and South Derbyshire College was approved in February last year, but is now being tweaked to meet the needs of the prospective buyer.
South Derbyshire District Council officers have recommended approval, with a decision to be made by councillors next week.
Dove Valley Park, owned by Clowes Developments, which is run by Derby County owner David Clowes, has been expanding with numerous new warehouse plans in the past few years.
When the previous iteration of this scheme was approved last year, it was said the plan would create up to 960 new jobs.
There is said to be a significant shortfall in large-scale, high-quality warehouse space in the region, with companies looking to have bases nearby due to its central location and proximity to the freight-centric East Midlands Airport.
Council officials, recommending approval, wrote: “The application proposes the development of commercial facilities on land to the east of Dove Valley Park. The region is recognised nationally as a key logistics location, and Dove Valley Park as one of only two sites capable of delivering new high-quality development to provide for the growing need of the logistics sector in the Derby and South Derbyshire area.
“The impetus for the proposal is the identification of a potential end user and the redesign of the scheme to meet their operational needs.
“Officers consider the proposals serve to provide a purpose-built facility to an end user, thus realising the economic, social and environmental benefits within a realistic time frame.”
Documents submitted to the council detail that the prospective client “is a leading Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprise with a well-established international presence and a long-term strategy to expand its operations within the UK, particularly in South Derbyshire and the wider East Midlands”.
The documents add: “The company intends to invest in the region on a sustained basis, supported by growing demand within its UK distribution network.
“At this stage, the identity of the end user cannot be disclosed, as commercial negotiations remain ongoing and are subject to confidentiality obligations.
“In relation to employment and job creation, the occupier’s operational model is anticipated to generate a significant number of full-time positions across warehouse operations, supervisory roles and administrative functions.”
The Chinese firm would join MEG – which provides soft drinks for Lidl, Müller, JCB, Kuehne and Nagel, and Futuba – on the 200-acre site.
Retail estate agent Knight Frank said over the summer that “Chinese firms have been actively acquiring space in the UK. Chinese e-commerce platforms are scaling up their operations in the UK market and expanding their UK-based supply chains and stock holdings in order to offer same-day or next-day delivery options”.
It said: “Leading the charge is JD.com, which is aiming to offer an alternative to Amazon. It soft-launched its e-commerce platform Joybuy in April this year.”
This included buying warehouse space in Coventry and Milton Keynes, while another Chinese online retail firm, Top Cloud Logistics, bought space in Birmingham, and CIRRO Fulfilment (trading as Super Smart Service), which supports Temu and Shein, “took two warehouses in the Midlands”.
Changes to the scheme approved last February include reducing the overall footprint of the warehouse slightly but expanding its “haunch” height from 17 metres to 18 metres.
A second warehouse on the site will also expand in height from 14 metres to 15 metres at the “haunch” and will have a slightly reduced footprint of 13,000 square metres (140,000 square feet), though this has not been connected to the proposed Chinese occupier of the larger facility.
One warehouse would have 183 parking spaces and the smaller unit would have 119 parking spaces, while the current 401 bus service to the business park would continue to be supported, with improvements being discussed by Clowes and Rotala.
