Boyes buys third hometown shed

A 132,000 sq ft unit on Scarborough’s Eastfield Industrial Estate has been acquired by the retailer to support a string of store openings.

Boyes, which was established in the town in 1881, continues to expand, and will operate the Thornburgh Road warehouse alongside existing facilities on Havers Hill and Hopper Hill Road.

The detached 132,163 sq ft building sits on a 5.58-acre plot and was marketed by GV&Co.

The site was previously home to printing company, Pindar, which formed part of the YM Group before it went into administration in 2022.

Boyes will now transform the site into a new distribution centre. Some operations from the other sites will transfer over, but the group expects that new jobs will be created once the third site is fully on stream.

Andrew Boyes, chairman and joint managing director, said: “Investing in this new site will provide considerable additional storage space to augment Boyes’ two existing distribution centres in Scarborough.

“These sites were struggling for space, for the volume of stock being handled, so having a third warehouse facility will improve efficiency and provide the capacity to open more stores, as well as helping to ensure that all our shelves are stocked with the vast range of products that make us so popular with our customers.”

Boyes currently serves upward of 1m customers every month from more than 70 stores across the East Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire and the North East, with a product range now exceeding 30,000 different items.

This summer, it has made its first venture into Scotland, tying up a deal with Co-op to run a concession from a store in Inverness. Closer to home, Boyes has relocated its Doncaster store to the former Wilko space at Frenchgate.

Will Woodhall, a surveyor from GV&Co’s agency team, said: “We generated a lot of interest in this site from both potential occupiers and investors, but it’s very satisfying to agree a sale to such a well-known and longstanding Scarborough based company.

“It’s also good news for the town as a whole, because ultimately this deal will create jobs and help to support local economic activity, as well as giving an empty building a new lease of life.”

Paul Jenkins, director at Cedarwood, which had previously asset-managed the site, said: “Following the demise of Pindar, which was sad news for Scarborough, it’s good news that the sale to Boyes has gone through as it will support the growth of a local employer.”.