Member Article

£1.4m acquisition seals Newcastle expansion for national wholesaler

National wholesaler JJ Food Service is expanding into the North East this summer, following its acquisition of a new site in Newcastle.

JJ Food Service supply a range of fresh, chilled and frozen products, as well as packaging and cleaning materials to all food industry sectors from restaurants, pubs and hotels to schools, universities and local authorities.

The new facility, set to take the firm’s estate to 10 sites across the UK, will open following modifications to the building and a recruitment drive.

Newcastle-based property agents HTA Real Estate secured the sale of the warehouse for £1.4m on behalf of property development and investment company, Sanderson Newcastle Ltd.

The 37,400sqft industrial unit is located on Sanderson Street just off Scotswood Road and less than one mile from Newcastle city centre.

Simon Hill, director at HTA Real Estate said: “Scotswood Road has become a popular hub for quasi-retail and trade counter operators due to its close proximity to both the A1 and the city centre.

“We anticipated this unit would be snapped up quickly and had already identified JJ Foods as a potential purchaser before marketing the property.”

HTA Real Estate acted jointly with Knight Frank on the disposal of the property on Sanderson Street.

Dan Martin at Sanderson Newcastle Ltd added: “We had recently acquired the property on Sanderson Street with a view to refurbishing it and had instructed HTA Real Estate to find a tenant for the refurbished building. However when HTA identified JJ Food Service as a potential purchaser we were happy to change our plans and sell the property to them.”

Edward Lanham, CFO of JJ Foods said: “HTA Real Estate acted very professionally and proactively in bringing this opportunity to us, they were aware of our requirement and matched this with the ideal property for us.”

He continued: “We will be making a significant investment in modifying the premises including the installation of state-of-the-art equipment and improving the overall presentation of the building to make it more customer friendly. We will also be embarking on a recruitment drive as we plan to fill the majority of staff positions locally before opening in the summer.”

The company is also building a new purpose-built facility in Dagenham and has other sites in Aston, Basingstoke, Enfield, Bristol, Doncaster, Leeds, Manchester and Sidcup.

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