McLaren and Big Yellow partner for the 17th time running - King's Cross

McLaren and Big Yellow partner for the 17th time running

McLaren Construction has been awarded two construction contracts by Big Yellow Self Storage, totalling £23m, strengthening a strong partnership with the UK’s leading self-storage brand. The new contracts now bring the total number of projects delivered by McLaren Construction to seventeen.

More about the projects
The exciting new facility at Kings Cross will provide 106,000 sq ft maximum lettable area (MLA) of self-storage space, including flexible office space and wine storage. The scheme includes the construction of a double basement, ground floor and six upper floors as well as external site works, with completion of construction works expected by November 2022. The store opening is planned for Summer 2023.

The new self-storage centre in Hove, East Sussex should open to customers by Spring 2022 and will provide 58,000 sq ft of maximum lettable area (MLA) including 4,700 sq ft of flexible office space. The scheme includes the construction of a two-level basement self-storage unit with an area of green roof and associated external works.

A long-lasting partnership
The partnership between McLaren Construction and Big Yellow Self Storage has grown over the past two decades, with McLaren Construction delivering seventeen Big Yellow storage facilities to date, the first in Finchley, North London in 2002. Since then, the partnership has evolved to build over 1 million sq ft of self-storage and office space together across the UK.

Dan Brister, divisional director at McLaren Construction, said:
“We are immensely proud of our long-term partnership with Big Yellow Self Storage, a loyal and hugely valued client. We’re excited to be delivering two strategically important new locations for Big Yellow Self Storage, a leader in self-storage, a sector which has experienced significant growth during the pandemic. We continue to grow our pipeline in the industrial and logistics construction sector and look forward to developing our relationship with Big Yellow further.”

Nigel Hartley, Big Yellow’s construction director, said:
“From the early days, all of the team at McLaren have performed admirably, completing each of the new stores in line with expectations. We often challenge their project teams with the most difficult of builds. McLaren have never let me down and deliver on promises I make to the board.”

The self-storage sector saw the highest level of occupancy recorded at 82% since records began in 2004, according to the Self-Storage Association UK Annual Industry Report (May 2021), while industry turnover increased by 16% annually to £890 million as working from home drove people to make space for ‘home offices’ by decluttering. The use of self-storage by online retailers also saw the greatest leap as ecommerce expanded during the pandemic.

Both the Kings Cross and Hove buildings were designed for Big Yellow by architects Mountford Pigott.