Big Yellow gets planning approval for two London projects

Self-storage operator Big Yellow Group announced progress on two major London projects on Monday, securing planning consent for a total of 307,000 square feet of storage space across two locations.

The FTSE 250 firm said it received approval at appeal for a 176,000-square-foot development adjacent to the Kensington Olympia events centre, which was currently undergoing a £1.3bn redevelopment.

It said the site would also be near what is set to be the largest theatre built in London since the 1970s.

The new storage facility was slated for completion in 2027.

Additionally, Big Yellow secured a resolution to grant planning for a 131,000-square-foot replacement store at Staples Corner.

The new facility would replace the existing leasehold store, which would be closed on the project's completion in 2026.

It said the move was expected to eliminate the current rent liability of £0.8 million per annum.

“The planning permission at Kensington Olympia is the largest and most important consent secured by Big Yellow to date,” said chief executive officer Jim Gibson.

“It continues our focus on opening stores in central London in highly affluent and populous areas where land availability is low and planning permission is formidably difficult to secure.

“The new store at Staples Corner will be located at the highly visible and accessible intersection of a number of main arterial roads.”

Gibson said the relocation continued the firm’s long strategy of reducing the group's annual rent liability to around £1m.

“We now have planning permission on all but one of our London sites which has substantially de-risked our pipeline of new stores and opened the pathway to unlocking significant revenue growth.”

At 0819 BST, shares in Big Yellow Group were down 0.48% at 1,256p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.