Avonmouth area becomes hub for supersized warehouses
The biggest-ever letting of a speculatively developed UK logistics building has been completed at Avonmouth, reinforcing the area’s status as a premier national distribution hub.
The 885,000 sq ft unit – the size of around 10 Wembley stadiums – has been developed by Panattoni, the world’s largest privately owned industrial real estate developer which acquired the site three years ago.
The building has been let to GXO Logistics, the world’s largest ‘pure-play’ contract logistics provider and an existing global client of Panattoni’s.
Panattoni said the deal represented the UK’s largest logistics letting of 2025 so far and established a new benchmark for the speculative development market.
While smaller than the largest building in the area – retail group The Range’s 1.2m sq ft warehouse – it is the biggest to be constructed without having an occupier ready to move.
Avonmouth has become a magnet for major logistics operators over recent years, particularly in food retailing as smaller sub-regional warehouses have been abandoned in favour of supersized depots capable of supplying stores across entire regions.
Other major occupiers in the area already include Amazon, Lidl, DHL, Tesco and Davies Turner.
The new Grade-A building forms part of the first phase of Panattoni Park Avonmouth – a major logistics and distribution campus with direct access to the M4 and M5 motorway corridors and near to the Port of Bristol.
GXO, whose £753.5m acquisition of Wiltshire-headquartered UK logistics group Wincanton is being reviewed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said the Avonmouth unit would serve as a cornerstone asset within its UK network.
The building has achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and EPC A ratings and was delivered to net zero carbon standards in construction.
Panattoni said these sustainability credentials, coupled with scale, infrastructure and multimodal accessibility, reflected its ongoing commitment to best-in-class development and long-term market resilience.
James Watson, Panattoni UK head of development – Southern England & London, said: “This milestone letting to GXO underscores both the scale of Panattoni’s ambition and the depth of occupier demand for prime, sustainable logistics space in core UK markets.
“Avonmouth continues to emerge as a critical location for national distribution, and we are pleased to have delivered a building of this scale and quality on a speculative basis, in alignment with the needs of global operators.”
Gavin Williams, managing director, UK & Ireland at GXO Logistics, added: “We’re delighted to announce that we’ve leased our new Avonmouth facility, the biggest logistics distribution centre in the Southwest.
“Our vast expertise working with multinational retailers has meant that we can fit out and manage a site of this scale. We’re excited to get the operation up and running, and proud to be creating so many new jobs across the southwest of England and south Wales.”
Panattoni was advised by Colliers, DTRE, JLL and Savills while GXO worked with the JLL Tenant Representative Team.
Read about Panattoni here: https://panattoni.co.uk/
https://couriernews.co.uk/blog/avonmouth-logistics-letting-is-uks-largest-ever/