Premier Farnell plans £60m investment in new warehouse

Premier Farnell’s existing warehouse is in Armley, Leeds, with an additional overflow stocking facility located nearby. The new facility will be based at Muse Development’s Logic Leeds and it retains £650m in revenue and jobs in the Yorkshire region.

The site, based off junction 45 of the M1, will stock over 420,000 products within the 360,000 sq foot facility and has the potential for up to one million square feet of distribution capacity as the business continues to respond to market growth opportunities.

Graham McBeth, President of Premier Farnell said, “This is a significant investment in a modern, automated warehouse, made possible by the opportunities for growth in the market and the support of our American parent company, Avnet. I am delighted that we are retaining our presence in Leeds.

 “Premier Farnell has a strong history in the Leeds area and we have great confidence in the Yorkshire workforce. This new warehouse, with great transport links, retains jobs in the region and will allow us to grow to support market demand.” added Nick Wilkins, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Premier Farnell.,

Logic Leeds sits within one of the Leeds City region Enterprise Zones which is supported by Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Leeds City Council, the Department of Communities and Local Government. Muse Developments has partnered up with Sheffield- based Bowmer and Kirkland to build the state-of-the-art distribution warehouse. Works commenced in early February 2018, with completion scheduled for the end of the year. The site is expected to be operational by late 2019 / early 2020.

Roger Marsh, Chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) commented, “We are delighted that Premier Farnell will enhance their high service distribution of technology products and solutions from what will be the largest ever warehouse development in Leeds. Our key industrial sectors are changing rapidly and the ability to embrace and adopt fast emerging digital technology and the Internet of Things, whereby computing devices are embedded in everyday objects to send and receive data, will improve our productivity and define our future economic identity. This decision means Premier Farnell – a global tech leader - can sit at the heart of this opportunity and pioneer this strategy from Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone.”

Premier Farnell is now working with Leeds City Council and the Local Planning Authority to agree the future of the existing warehouse building and to develop transport solutions for employees moving to the new site.