JW Filshill agrees headquarters move
Scottish wholesaler announces nation’s biggest pre-let for five years
JW Filshill has struck a deal to relocate to a new purpose-built distribution centre, which has become Scotland’s largest industrial pre-let for five years.
The new site at Westway Park near Glasgow Airport still requires rubber-stamping from Renfrewshire Council to get planning permission for the 6.7-acre site that will include a 120,400 sq ft distribution centre and 10,000 sq ft office space for head office functions – with the development process to take 18 months to complete.
The Scottish wholesaler, which received several accolades at the SWA Awards earlier this year, has enjoyed business growth thanks to its core delivered wholesale business and expansion of its craft beers and spirits business, and international arm that exports Scottish beer, spirits and food products across the globe.
While many businesses are holding tight waiting for the market to calm down – especially with the prospect of Brexit looming large on the horizon – Filshill acted now to future proof the business, secure employment and improve efficiencies.
“We can’t hold off waiting for Brexit,” said Managing Director Simon Hannah. “We need to get ready for the next phase of group growth, keep ourselves relevant to the ever-changing market, ensure job security for our staff and continuously improve on providing service excellence to our customers – that’s all hugely important to us.
“Westway is an outstanding location for us, less than three miles from our current premises at Hillington and next to Glasgow Airport which will become increasingly important as we develop our international business in the coming years.
“Our business is successful because of our people, most of who live in Renfrewshire, so finding new premises near their homes was a major consideration for us in choosing Westway, along with its prestigious and secure location.
“The facility is being built to our exact specification and will provide pallet capacity of 12,000 in a 14-metre high warehouse with 12 loading docks. There will also be 10,000 sq ft of fresh and chilled space to accommodate growth in this category and allow us to expand into the foodservice and on-trade sector in the future.”
Brexit distribution centre Filshill Glasgow JW Filshill Scotland Simon Hannah SWA awards
