Warehouses in demand as online shopping boom continues

Aberdeen Standard Investments has bought a majority stake in a firm that manages £5.1 billion of warehouses, as data revealed a record amount of space has been let this year in London and the South East.

Warehouse landlords have benefited from soaring demand in 2020. Many retailers have needed extra storage and distribution space to cope with more online orders during the pandemic, and firms continue to report online growth.

Meanwhile, a number of firms have concerns about delays at borders impacting getting products in and out of Britain in a no-deal Brexit scenario.  That has prompted companies to seek extra space to stockpile some products.

Investor Aberdeen Standard Investments today said it will acquire a 60% stake in logistics real estate fund manager Tritax, which looks after two industrial property funds for which it receives management fees.