Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at a number of conferences about retail logistics. This sector, propelled by the rise of e-commerce is undergoing rapid change, and consequently is of huge interest to the real estate world. The interest is warranted. The recent e-commerce boom will continue to impact logistics real estate as technologically […]
In the past few weeks I have been closely monitoring articles posted by our retail research team relating to global trends reshaping the retail sector. These articles form part of a major global research piece entitled, ‘Redefining Retail Places’, whichhighlights, amongst other things, how customer experience and service is moving into the spotlight of physical […]
Last year, after relocating from city to suburb, I decided to commute by train. This was not because I prefer the train to driving, or to be honest out of strong environmental considerations. Rather, it was simply because road congestion would have made commuting by car unpredictable and in the end more expensive (accounting for […]
Much has been said and written about the need to enhance urban distribution models as the number of daily parcel deliveries continues to grow at lightning speed. The latest scoop, the DHL parcel box, actually sounds more hands-on than some of the more futuristic approaches such as the Amazon drone although the latter is by […]
I knew the question would come (and promptly) when I told our PR team we were ready to release results of our survey amongst major occupiers of logistics and industrial real estate across Europe. They did not disappoint. It came immediately: ‘Is there a new big trend that will make an interesting headline? Anything newsworthy […]
“What’s actually our view on 3D printing?” I had heard talk about 3D printing but was not at all familiar with the concept at the time the question was casually popped to me by a colleague. Certainly I did not have a view – let alone a ‘house view’ for the whole company. All I […]
As everybody is slowly returning to the office and 2013 full-year numbers are being finalized focus is firmly on 2014 already. So what’s in store for logistics real estate markets this year? Across the globe, supply chains are being dramatically altered by the change taking place both in retail markets and manufacturing processes; cost hikes […]
At the beginning of every year most of us make New Year resolutions and ponder what opportunities might emerge throughout the year. With economic conditions gradually improving across Europe, industrial occupiers have a reason to be optimistic about the year ahead. But a key question remains: what opportunities will there be for occupiers in 2014 […]
Weekends in the month of December in Germany are traditionally spent celebrating ‘advent’ (the pre-Christmas season) which means invitations to afternoon coffee and cake. Hence last Saturday I was expected at my Mum’s home. Upon arrival, a DHL van parked in front of the house, delivering a parcel to her neighbours. On entering the house, […]
Over the last few weeks, I have done a lot of research for our new white paper European seaports – the growing logistics opportunity. It’s a topic I have been familiar with since writing our first European seaports report European seaports: future logistics hotspots back in 2008. My first impression was, five years on, trends […]
A few days ago rumours of new e-fulfilment centres to be built in Poland for Amazon were confirmed by the etailer itself. Around 6,000 permanent new jobs and as much as 9,000 temporary ones at peak periods will be created across three centres of around 90,000 sq m each. Certainly, this kind of news is […]
I can’t help but ask myself is the investors’ recent love affair with the logistics sector just a result of the attractive income returns along with risk mitigation through diversification, or is there more to it? After all, income returns have always been highest for logistics assets. Half-year logistics and industrial investment volumes at €6 […]
Online giant Amazon is dropping its free shipping of products below £10 in the UK from this month, now requiring a £3.99 posting and package charge for such items (with some exceptions including books and CD’s). Certainly, for online customers this must feel like the unwelcome forebode of their perfect online shopping world being doomed. […]
A rather cold, stormy and rainy Berlin played host to the recent annual SCL Europe Summit. Looking at the positive side of the rather unpleasant start into the European summer this year, it made for an easy conversation starter with new acquaintances as supply chain experts took to three days of hard core networking. A […]
Germany will provide the best total returns for logistics assets this year according to our latest poll that asked “Which country will offer investors the best prospect for total returns in the logistics sector this year?” Almost 40% expect this to be the case. This clearly reflects the […]
This week, we have released our Q1 results on European logistics and industrial markets. Logistics and industrial investment showed a strong start to the year – volumes reached €3 billion, more than double that recorded in Q1 2012 and 5% above Q4 2012 The logistics occupier market showed a more mixed picture – take-up amounted […]
