The Swindon industrial market has hit an all-time low and is heading towards recession, specialist industrial surveyor, Lipfriend Dawson, has warned.
The firm says the Swindon market has been hit by the slowdown in UK manufacturing and is now facing the turmoil recently experienced by businesses in the Thames Valley.
According to Dawson director, Tim Davies, demand over the last two years from potential occupiers has halved and this, coupled with high profile companies leaving the town, means there is now almost three million sq ft of vacant industrial space.
A prime example he says is Severn Trent's flagship warehouse scheme, where one unit continues to remain unoccupied since building work finished almost seven years ago.
He said: "At 50,000 sq ft it is the finest warehouse unit available along the M4 corridor, and with access to the M4 itself within a minute's drive, I can't believe that someone has not snapped it up.
"What happens to this building will set the tone for the Swindon market for the foreseeable future."
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