Dunelm set to become latest retailer to open warehouse at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal

Dunelm Group has agreed a 10-year lease for a new warehousing unit at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).

The homeware retailer is set to move into the 190,000-sq-ft facility near Crick called DC4 once construction completes in September.

Tom Price, capital deployment and leasing associate at Prologis UK, which operates DIRFT, said: “Prologis has a longstanding relationship with Dunelm, so it’s brilliant to be working with the company again and helping to expand its operations at DIRFT.

“To let DC4 in advance of the building’s completion shows just how strong demand in the market is for well-located logistics facilities, close to vital road and rail links.”

The move supports Dunelm’s focus on improving its operations as well as the growth in home delivery and click and collect operations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Prologis.

DC4 will also reflect the company’s ambitious targets around sustainability and carbon reduction, with an EPC rating of A and features such as 15 per cent roof lights, rainwater harvesting, and LED lighting.

The building has also had its environmental credentials certified by The Planet Mark and is mitigating 100 per cent of the embodied carbon involved in its construction.

Thanks to Prologis’ partnership with climate action charity Cool Earth, the construction of DC4 will help protect 136 acres of rainforest, over 30,000 trees, and support 652 people in Sololo, Southern Papua New Guinea.

Steve Barton, director of property at Dunelm Group, said: “We are very pleased to expand our operations to DC4 at DIRFT and work with Prologis again in fulfilment of a key logistics requirement.”

Classed as a nationally-significant infrastructure project, DIRFT is one of the most successful intermodal (road/rail) logistics parks in the UK.

From its location in the logistics ‘golden triangle’, at the heart of the UK’s motorway and rail network, the site has excellent road links to the M1 and M6 motorways, and to the West Coast Main Line.

Home to household names such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco, the site’s transport links have played a significant role in keeping goods and services flowing around the country during the pandemic.