Work begins on our new £1.1m 19,375 sq ft warehouse and office complex.

Work begins on our new £1.1m 19,375 sq ft warehouse and office complex.

Specialist contractor CambridgeHOK Construction has begun work on a £1.1m warehouse and office complex at Spaldington near Howden.

The project has been commissioned by regional storage and racking expert Fil (formerly Filplastic) to facilitate its expansion plans, which has owned the site for years and has been using existing agriculture buildings for storage and distribution during that time.

Earlier this year, the company appointed CambridgeHOK Construction to design and build the new facility.

Louis Bradley, construction director at CambridgeHOK Construction, said the first phase of the state-of-the-art 1,800 sq m facility is forecast to be completed next month.

Louis said: “The build has been divided into three phases to minimise disruption to Fil’s day-to-day operations. At the moment, we’re in the process of constructing the first third of the warehouse.

“Once this is completed, we can move all of the stock in the existing buildings into the new building. Then we will demolish the old agricultural buildings to make way for the rest of the warehouse and the offices.”

CambridgeHOK Construction worked closely with Fil to design the scheme and carried out all works to prepare the site. Its sister company, Cambridge HOK, fabricated the steel frames for the warehouse and office complex at its factory at Newport, a village in Yorkshire.

Louis added that the ability to deliver every aspect of the contract was one of the main reasons the company won the work: “We designed the facility, carried out all infrastructure and preparatory work, fabricated the steel frame and now we have started construction.

“With the site progressing well, it is great to see all of that effort come to fruition, and it is great to be working with a successful local company like Fil.”

Paul Taylor, managing director of Fil, said the scheme would enable the company to realise its expansion plans by providing a fit-for-purpose facility that provided significantly more storage space.

Access to the site will also be improved, meaning deliveries will be made more efficiently.

Louis concluded: “When we started this process, we decided we wanted a partner that would work with us through every aspect of the project, from initial designs to handing over the keys.

“CambridgeHOK Construction put together a very impressive package that ticked all the boxes we needed, including minimising disruption during the build, which was very important. Plus, they are local, so appointing them was an easy choice.

“It is very exciting to see our new warehouse coming out of the ground. Once completed, it will give us the space we need to realise our expansion plans and take the business to the next level.”