Slough by no means despondent
has enabled Slough Estates to enter the CEE region (ie. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic) for the first time.
Critical mass
This strategic decision amounted to a huge shift in Slough’s priorities, and the British developer felt that the best way to implement the new strategy was to move into the growing and now well–established markets of Central Europe. As Mr Hollins explains: “CEE countries provide a real demand for growth – occupier demand, in terms of the industrial sector, is much higher than in western countries. This is perfect for us, as Slough concentrates its activities mainly on this kind of space. There are only a few better markets to come to than the CEE – this is where established and western companies want to locate their manufacturing and distribution centres.”
Building up an appetite
Financial clout the key
In Poland, Slough is concentrating on the areas in and around Warsaw, Łódź and Poznań, where Grontmij was already present. But the British developer is now taking a serious look at the Silesia region, which Simon Hollins believes shares many of the characteristics of another region that has proved fruitful for Slough in the past – the Ruhr in Germany, in that both were formerly heavily industrialized and are still densely populated.
