Q&A: Industry Now — in conversation with Alistair Smith, Caddick Developments

Following our joint panel appearance at the Yorkshire Industrial and Logistics conference, Director Ben Gavaghan caught up with our client Alistair Smith, Director at Caddick Developments, to discuss current trends influencing the sector.

Q1. The Planning Process in today’s market

Ben: With the challenges faced by Local Councils, planning remains a major pressure point across all sectors. How are Caddick Developments tackling these challenges through consultant appointments, vision documents, design standards, and collaboration with local authorities?

Alistair: Early engagement has been key for our success in navigating the planning process to date. Caddick Land are the first on the ground and invest time in understanding the local authorities’ and the wider communities’ priorities. We then work together to build the right consultant teams with to create a shared understanding of how we can meet the planning authorities’ aspirations.

As a developer operating across the North and into the Midlands, we also have a responsibility to ensure quality and consistency in our design approach. By establishing clear design codes and sustainability benchmarks from an early stage, we’re able to build trust and clarity through the planning journey.

Q2. Language and perception: drop “sheds”?

Ben: At the Yorkshire Industry conference, there was a debate about language, whether we should drop “sheds” in favour of “Business Parks”, “Distribution Hubs” or “Production Centres”. What’s your view on terminology, and does it help (or hinder) conversations with occupiers, planners, and investors?

Alistair: I agree that the language we use definitely shapes perception, and that we should be looking to emphasise the strategic importance that “sheds” play within the national economy. However, there’s a risk that by adopting new terminology too quickly across the board, we risk isolating certain audience segments, particularly from an international investor perspective.

At Caddick, we tend to focus on communicating the purpose and value of each development, knowing that what matters is making sure we’re prioritising the role that these projects have in supporting business growth, boosting local economies, and driving forward mutual commitments to ESG.

Q3. Sustainability

Ben: Caddick’s Schneider Electric facility placed sustainability at the forefront of the projects. Are there specific sustainability milestones or delivery methodology from that project that will now set the precedent across your wider industrial pipeline? How do you balance upfront cost with long-term performance and value?

Alistair: Sustainability is now a non-negotiable part of development, and working with Schneider Electric on its Scarborough facility has really set a benchmark for us in that respect. Our approach is to work collaboratively with clients to understand not just their current needs, but how we can design buildings that perform for decades to come.

We design to BREAAM Excellent as a standard, but will always show our clients a route to Outstanding. We want to make it as easy as possible for occupiers to do the right thing by embedding low-carbon design principles, renewable energy options, and efficient building systems as standard across our portfolio. While cost is always part of the conversation, we’ve seen that prioritising long-term performance delivers real commercial value.

Q4. Automation in industrial buildings

Ben: Have you noticed a shift from occupiers to demand “automation-ready” buildings, and how are these captured in your speculative developments?

Alistair: This is something that we’ve absolutely seen a demand for when delivering purpose-built developments, and having done so for a number of leading occupiers, we’ve learned a lot of lessons as to how you can futureproof speculative schemes from the outset.

We know that the way people are using buildings is fundamentally changing, and by considering factors such as increased floor loading, clear internal heights and strong data connectivity, we’re able to design adaptable buildings that can evolve with changing technologies and operational models.