IN Brief:
- Pellenc ST and Vision Group have signed ten-year leases totalling 18,180 sq ft at Hertford Logistics Hub.
- The latest reporting describes the completed £75m development as 225,340 sq ft across 16 multi-let units.
- The two new uses support industrial property take-up but do not yet establish any measured growth in freight movements.
Padrock has secured two ten-year lettings totalling 18,180 sq ft at Hertford Logistics Hub, adding a recycling technology manufacturer and a workplace IT provider to the occupiers of its urban industrial development. Pellenc ST has taken 8,290 sq ft for a demonstration, testing and training facility, while Vision Group has agreed to occupy 9,890 sq ft to support its managed print, content management and workplace technology operations. The agreements were reported on 12 October, with both businesses taking space at a scheme designed for a mixture of industrial and logistics uses.
The £75 million development comprises 16 units across what contemporary property reporting describes as an 11-acre brownfield site in Hertford. Its reported total floor area is 225,340 sq ft, combining smaller industrial accommodation with units capable of supporting larger occupiers. The two latest transactions account for less than a tenth of that overall floor area, illustrating the role of relatively compact premises within a development also able to accommodate substantial warehouse and production-related requirements. No rent level or tenant-specific fit-out investment has been disclosed for either agreement.
Pellenc ST manufactures technology used to sort materials in recycling operations. The Hertford premises are intended for customers and technical teams to see equipment, conduct tests and undertake training, rather than being described as a new waste-processing plant or a distribution centre. The announcement does not specify which machines will be installed or identify any planned commercial processing capacity at the location.
Vision Group supplies managed print and workplace IT services, alongside content and document management, and has taken a unit intended to support those activities. The company has not disclosed whether the 9,890 sq ft unit will house distribution stock, technical teams, servicing operations or a combination of functions. The letting therefore does not establish the freight activity expected of a conventional regional distribution centre.
Existing businesses at Hertford Logistics Hub include live-events equipment supplier 4Wall Entertainment, Learn to Dream, audiovisual specialist Trison and Datalec Precision Installations, which provides data centre infrastructure services. The range of occupiers indicates demand for buildings that can accommodate equipment storage, assembly, testing, servicing and associated office functions as well as distribution. Padrock’s investment and development manager Jamie Young said the developer was in advanced discussions with other prospective tenants. Those discussions should not be counted as signed leases, and an updated proportion of the completed estate that is occupied was not provided with the two new announcements.
Padrock’s phased redevelopment plans described refurbishment of existing 1980s buildings to form smaller units, alongside demolition of older industrial structures and construction of nine new units. That combination allows a wider range of occupier sizes than a single large warehouse building would ordinarily provide. The developer identified the former estate’s ageing building stock and low occupancy as reasons for investment. Its project history also records planning consent and works beginning in 2023, so the October 2026 news concerns additional lettings at an established development rather than the commencement of construction.
Hertford Logistics Hub sits near the A414 and A10, giving occupiers access to the wider Hertfordshire road network and routes towards London and the motorway system. Such access can support service engineers, customer visits and regional deliveries, although the benefit varies with each business’s operating pattern. Pellenc ST’s customer-facing technical facility may value the ability to bring equipment and visitors to one site, while Vision Group’s service model could require a different balance of staff travel, stockholding and field operations.
Contemporary reporting states that the completed scheme carries BREEAM Outstanding and EPC A+ ratings, which Padrock has also described in its more recent corporate updates. These building credentials do not measure individual tenants’ electricity consumption or supply chain emissions. Padrock’s older project page lists lower targeted ratings and different site and floor-area figures, reflecting earlier plans rather than the latest reported completed scheme.
In its initial proposals, Padrock highlighted rooftop photovoltaic generation, electric vehicle charging provision and landscaping improvements. The developer also described the ambition to increase biodiversity at a site that had previously offered limited green space. The announcement does not disclose installed generation capacity, actual tenant energy use or independently measured operating savings.
Padrock is pursuing further industrial and logistics developments in Hertfordshire, including previously announced proposals for approximately 245,000 sq ft at Elstree and 205,000 sq ft at Waltham Cross. Those schemes are at the planning stage and are separate from the completed Hertford hub. Neither proposal represents a new planning approval or construction milestone on 12 October. M1 Agency and Paul Wallace Commercial are acting as letting agents at Hertford.
The two ten-year lettings add contractual occupiers to an established site; full occupancy and operating activity have not yet been quantified. Pellenc ST plans a demonstration and training facility, while Vision Group has not disclosed the balance of stockholding, servicing or office activity at its unit. Neither occupier has announced commissioning dates, related hiring or expected freight volumes. Subsequent occupation and utilisation data would be needed before drawing firmer conclusions about additional logistics capacity or freight activity in Hertford.
