Kier has announced that it is continuing to grow its industrial portfolio, with its latest appointment to deliver a £39m regional distribution hub facility in Wixams, Bedford, for developers UK Land and Property.

The facility will be occupied by B&M Retail Ltd and will serve as its Southern Distribution Centre.

The huge 21.5m high, 1,000,000 sq ft warehouse equates to 12 premier league football pitches and will help meet market demand. The Distribution Centre will comprise warehousing and distribution facilities including temperature controlled zones to accommodate chilled and frozen goods, offices, recycling and ancillary areas. Surrounding the main building, there will be other provisions, including a refuelling area, a maintenance area for vehicles and a gatehouse.

Commenting on the contract, Mark Pausey, managing director of Kier Construction Central said: "First class warehouse space is in real demand and working with UK Land and Property LLP, we are looking forward to delivering this space in a perfectly situated location for deliveries across the country. As the UK is the eighth largest manufacturer in the world, we are proud to be supporting UK businesses and their growth and also help secure thousands of job opportunities in the area.

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"It is an exciting award for Kier and not only is the size of the warehouse going to be impressive, but it also includes 200,000m3 of earthworks and will see us use 4,500 tonnes of steel throughout the build. The finished distribution hub will create around a thousand new jobs and we’ll also be supporting employment growth in the local area throughout the build."

This latest award for Kier follows on from the news that it will be building a major extension to the Telford-based Müller factory. The £10m project will see Kier double the size of the existing site, and enable Müller to significantly increase its yoghurt production.

Paul Johnson, UKLP Projects Director said: "Having embarked on the initial site search and feasibility for B&M in early 2014, we are delighted to have now successfully concluded the procurement phase of this development with planning permission secured and site acquisition completed in March this year, followed by the appointment of Kier as Design & Build Contractor in June.

"Kier have an excellent project team in place with a proven track record of delivery in this sector and we look forward to working with them to achieve a successful project outcome for all concerned."

(MH)