Article written for South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce Magazine, May 2025 by Matt Pochin, Director, Legat Owen
A feeling of déjà vu has just washed over me. I have written about the Crewe Commercial Sector on a number of occasions over the last 4 to 5 years and there is a repeating theme. The Town is limited in commercial building opportunities, especially in the industrial sector.
The former XT site on Weston Road is nearing completion offering a unit of circa 300,000 sq ft. That is a big building but it will end up being home to just one occupier. We need more land and stock to satisfy the organic growth of the smaller existing businesses in the area, attract new operators and also to support the single operator that will end up taking the large unit offered on the XT plot. However, Crewe does not have the capacity or opportunities, hence areas such as Winsford, Middlewich and Wardle are benefiting from a slow migration of businesses seeking to take advantage of the possibilities that these locations currently offer.
Cheshire Green Industrial Estate at Wardle is within the Cheshire East boundaries and is profiting from the migration away from Crewe. In the last 24 months we have seen Cobalt Systems, Quelfire, Martin Systems and Fabulosa all take new facilities on the Estate. These were businesses who were either based in Crewe or were keen to gain a foothold in the town. However, lack of opportunity has led to their move “out of town”. This will continue to happen and we are already in detailed dialogue with two operators wanting to lease a combined area of 50,000 sq ft on Cheshire Green.
We are fortunate that the private sector and a visionary landowner in Phillip Posnett pushed for the allocation of the land at Cheshire Green to support the business that Crewe itself is missing out upon homing. The allocated land of Cheshire Green will soon be developed and we will then be looking for the next release of land. Let’s hope this happens soon or my feeling of déjà vu will once more be upon me.
