The Richardson family of Midlands property entrepreneurs has sold a portfolio of warehouse assets for £68M.

The exit comes barely two years after the dynasty moved into the shed sector.

The 'Project Bertha' off-market disposal to Tristan Capital Partners’ EPISO 5 fund sees 668K SF of logistics floorspace change hands at a time when warehouse yields have scarcely been tighter.

The portfolio is across three logistics sites in Redditch, Kettering and Avonmouth and has been acquired from the Richardson family, St Francis Group and Curtis Hall. The portfolio includes Velocity 42 in Redditch; Cransley Park, in Kettering, Northamptonshire and Worcestershire; and Western 105 in Avonmouth, Bristol. All are vacant with the exception of Redditch, which has one tenant.

In 2018 the Richardson property dynasty teamed up with Warwickshire-based St. Francis Group to create a 600K SF Midlands speculative logistics partnership.

“The coronavirus crisis has accelerated e-commerce trends in the UK, resulting in a surge in occupational demand for strategically located warehouses,” Tristan Capital Partners Managing Director Nicho Jenkins said.

“The UK is suffering from a limited supply of new logistics buildings and the modern, flexible space offered by these recently developed assets has already attracted strong interest from a variety of potential occupiers. Our plan is to lease up the vacant space and pursue similar opportunities to potentially build out a UK logistics portfolio.”

The Richardson family operate principally through Oldbury-based Richardson Capital and various development businesses. The Richardson property empire was founded in the 1970s by twins Roy and Don Richardson, who made their mark on the property business with the development of the Merry Hill shopping complex at Dudley, one of the UK’s first large out-of-town malls.

Roy Richardson’s sons Lee and Martyn took control of the business in the late 1990s and the family business is now in its third generation.