Segro sees potential to roll out its datacentre concept in mainland Europe, according to Andrew Gulliford, managing director Continental Europe. 'This is something we are looking at. We're seeing growth in demand and potential in large urban conurbations in Europe where we already have operations.’
The UK REIT's datacentre concept evolved at Slough Trading Estate, which forms the heart of the company's light industrial and warehousing business and is the largest estate of its kind in single ownership in both the UK and Europe. The datacentres are basically large sheds with capacity for large fibre and electrical networks for tenants such as banks, retailers and IT service providers.
'Slough Trading Estate spawned the development of our first datacentres and we are now one of the largest providers of datacentre facilities in the UK,' Gulliford said. 'We now see potential in cities like Amsterdam, but also Frankfurt, Paris and Warsaw.’
Segro currently has EUR 5.9 bn of assets under management in the UK and Europe. Continental Europe currently accounts for about 30% of the portfolio in value terms following the takeover of UK peer Brixton in 2009 which boosted Segro's presence in London and the southeast of the country. The bulk of the business - or 66% - revolves around light industrial business space, with logistics and warehousing accounting for just under 20% and suburban offices for the remainder.
Gulliford: 'In Continental Europe, the suburban offices unit is the smallest proportion of the portfolio and is declining. We will continue with it, but it's not part of our mainstream business in these markets.'
The full interview appears in the August/September issue of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the link below to subscribe | 
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