Member Article

Construction begins on new £3m Charles Clinkard Middlesbrough head office

Construction has begun on a new £3m head office and warehouse for Teesside family retailer Charles Clinkard.

Work is due to be complete by January 2016 on a 5,000 sqm building, close to the Royal Mail Sorting Office at Cannon Park, Middlesbrough.

Leading the build at Cannon Park is Dennis McLuckie, construction project manager. He and his 40-strong team of local workers from McLuckie Projects are building the new head office and warehouse around the original steel framework of the original building.

The project is the second superstructure Dennis and his team have worked on in Teesside in the last 12 months – they built the new Barker and Stonehouse store at Teesside Park which opened earlier this year.

Managing director Charles Clinkard said: “It’s an exciting time for the company and will be the start of a new chapter in the family’s 90 year retailing history.

“We have 33 stores across the country and our online sales are increasing year on year which means we need to increase our warehouse space to meet demand.

“My grandparents opened the first Charles Clinkard store in Middlesbrough in 1924.

“We’ve continued to trade in the town ever since so when we were looking for a location for a new head office and discovered this site was available it was serendipity.”

The company is forecast to achieve £6m in online sales this year, with that figure expected to rise to £10m over the next three years.

Up to 100 people are employed in the head office and warehouse and as online sales increase Charles Clinkard is hopeful more jobs will be created.

The company estimates that for every £1m increase in online sales five jobs will be created.

More than 30,000 bricks are being used, along with additional steel framework, to support a 1,300 sqm suspended concrete deck which will be home to a suite of offices.

Charles Clinkard will move from Eveline House - its current head office and warehouse at Preston Farm – when the lease expires later this year.

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