Californian industrial property giant Panattoni's First Panattoni European operation is to open an office in Manchester.

Panattoni is the largest privately owned industrial developer in the world, having delivered 302M SF of floorspace for more than 2,500 customers. In the last two years, the European platform alone has completed over 30M SF.

First Panattoni has appointed former JLL industrial specialist Daniel Burn to head the Manchester office as it prepares for 1M SF of speculative development in the North along the M6, M62 and M1 corridors. The developer is already at work on a 235K SF speculative scheme in Crewe.

First Panattoni has allocated £525M for new U.K. land purchases in 2018-19 and is at work on a 3.5M SF U.K. development programme.

"Last quarter, we saw the highest take-up of new build warehousing in the U.K. since records began and we see the supply-starved North West and Yorkshire market as key targets for our business," First Panattoni Managing Director Matthew Byrom said.

First Panattoni already has a Midlands U.K. office at Warwick.