65 jobs to be created as £6.2m Leeds distribution hub is handed to John Lewis

Muse Developments has officially handed over the keys to John Lewis for its new £6.2m customer delivery hub at Logic Leeds.

The 50,500 sq ft state-of-the-art distribution warehouse is situated in the centre of Muse’s flagship 110-acre development in the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone by Junction 45 of the M1. It includes 4,000 sq ft of offices.

John Lewis, which has signed a 20-year-lease, will create 65 jobs at its new facility.

The hub, which will become fully operational in July, will service online orders for home delivery.

The handing over of the new hub follows on from John Lewis’ announcement that 550 jobs are available at the retailer’s new shop in Leeds, which is set to open later this year. John Lewis Leeds will be one of the retailer’s biggest department stores outside London at 252,000 sq ft.

The building was sold to AXA’s UK Long Lease Property Fund for £6.2m by Muse last year prior to commencement of construction.

In an important week for Logic Leeds, retail giant Amazon has taken occupation of Building One, an 80,840 sq ft warehouse and distribution space which includes 4,000 sq ft of offices and 100 car parking spaces.

This is the largest building of its kind to be speculatively developed in Leeds since the recession and the deal underlines the significant investment in the Leeds City Region by these high-profile retail developments.

The Leeds offices of Knight Frank and Carter Towler advised on the deal.

David Wells, regional director of Muse in Leeds, explained: “Handing over the keys to John Lewis is a real milestone in the Logic Leeds story. The decision by such a major and well-respected player in the British retail industry to come to Logic Leeds was a ringing endorsement of our development and put it firmly on the map.

“Our pioneering manufacturing and distribution development benefits from a number of incentives for occupiers because it is part of Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone. These incentives, plus Logic Leeds’s superb location just half-a-mile from Junction 45 of the M1, makes this development a very attractive proposition indeed,” said Mr Wells.

“We have received tremendous support from Leeds City Council, who have recognised the potential of Logic Leeds from the very start.”

Mark Robinson, director customer delivery operations at John Lewis, added: “I’m delighted that we are opening a new customer delivery hub in the Leeds area. This will allow us to successfully support our customers in the Leeds catchment and surrounding areas with the wide range of delivery, installation and assembly services we have on offer for our customers.”

Roger Marsh, chairman of the Leeds Local Enterprise Council, also said: “The Zone’s location at the intersection of the country’s arterial roads, alongside the available local workforce and the high quality design and build by Muse, underlines to me that Logic Leeds is on the road to becoming one of the North’s premier manufacturing and distribution parks.”

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