With the news that prime rents for warehouses in Scotland have jumped three times faster, year on year, than the rest of the UK[1], Pallet Trucks UK have warned that the problem won’t go away without help.
“Space in Scotland may be cheaper than space in England at the UK,” said Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Pallet Trucks UK. “But it’s still growing faster than England’s, and the risk is that people will start losing staff because they can’t afford to keep them as well as the storage space—which will mean slower picking—and fewer sales.”
The Glasgow area is the place that people are most concerned about, because it’s losing out on space to accommodate manufacturing growth as well as the ever-expanding retail delivery and distribution factions.
Focusing on growing the business means spending more, which will ironically mean that firms will have less money to spend on hardware for the warehouses—such as pallet trucks—as well as stock, and workers to pick the stock.
If the trend picks up in England to the same extent, it’s possible that demand for warehouse space will drop off when it gets too high—and some warehouses with plenty of storage space will stand empty as no company wants to pay that much for space.
“Rents rising too sharply is never a good thing for anyone except the landlord,” added Phil Chesworth. “New warehouse space needs to be built and made affordable, or companies will find themselves entirely priced out of their specialist area.”
[1] http://www.shdlogistics.com/news/warehouse-rental-space-demand-in-scotland-soars
