IN Brief:
- Caddick Construction has won a £25m contract for Royal London Asset Management’s Middleton industrial development.
- The 14-acre scheme will include two industrial units, external works, parking, and EV charging.
- The project continues demand for higher-specification industrial space in well-connected regional locations.
Caddick Construction has been awarded a £25m contract to deliver two new industrial units at a 14-acre development in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
The project is being delivered for Royal London Asset Management and will provide modern industrial accommodation with external works, parking, and electric vehicle charging. The development is targeting BREEAM Outstanding, placing building performance, construction evidence, and environmental controls close to the centre of the delivery brief.
Middleton’s location in the north of Greater Manchester gives the scheme access to established industrial and logistics corridors, with links towards Manchester, Rochdale, Oldham, and the wider motorway network. For occupiers, that blend of labour access, road connectivity, and proximity to urban markets remains central to location decisions.
The contract adds to Caddick’s North West industrial and logistics pipeline. The company has built a strong position across warehouse, commercial, and industrial schemes, where clients need contractors able to manage steel-frame construction, groundworks, drainage, service yards, utilities, envelope packages, and fit-out interfaces at pace.
Industrial development has become more demanding than the “shed” label suggests. Occupiers now expect energy performance, flexible layouts, resilient power, automation readiness, EV charging, high-quality staff facilities, robust loading arrangements, and space that can adapt as operations change. Investors are also paying closer attention to long-term asset value, particularly where buildings may face tougher carbon and efficiency expectations during their holding period.
A BREEAM Outstanding target raises the level of delivery discipline required. Contractors must manage materials evidence, waste, energy use, site controls, biodiversity, commissioning, and documentation alongside the physical build. Poor record-keeping can damage certification as surely as poor workmanship, especially where environmental performance relies on evidence gathered throughout construction.
The specification shift also changes supply chain requirements. Steelwork, cladding, roofing, doors, drainage, M&E, surfacing, lighting, controls, landscaping, and fire systems all contribute to the final performance of an industrial asset. The contractor’s task is to coordinate those packages so the completed units are lettable, compliant, and operationally useful rather than simply complete by floor area.
Greater Manchester remains an attractive market for industrial development, even as occupier demand has become more selective after the extreme growth seen during the pandemic logistics boom. Well-located units with strong environmental credentials continue to draw interest because they can serve distribution, light manufacturing, urban logistics, maintenance operations, and regional supply chain activity.
The project also shows how institutional investors are refining their approach to commercial construction. Development finance and yield assumptions have become more sensitive to build cost, rent levels, interest rates, and occupier appetite. Schemes reaching construction now tend to have clearer demand, stronger locations, or specifications capable of supporting long-term rental resilience.
For local supply chains, the Middleton contract will generate work across a range of trades. Groundworkers, steel erectors, cladding specialists, roofers, drainage contractors, M&E providers, surfacing teams, landscapers, fire protection contractors, and security installers will all form part of the delivery structure. The availability and coordination of those trades will shape programme certainty.
Industrial schemes often look straightforward from the outside, but their commercial pressure can be unforgiving. Developers need lettable space delivered quickly, while occupiers expect reliable access, robust yards, clear heights, power capacity, and building systems ready for adaptation. Delays around utilities, drainage, envelope completion, or final certification can quickly affect income and tenant mobilisation.
Caddick’s appointment gives the Middleton scheme a contractor with established regional delivery capacity. The company will need to combine speed with the documentation and quality control required by the environmental target. In a market where industrial buildings are being asked to last longer, perform better, and support more power-intensive operations, delivery quality will influence value well after handover.
