In the final months of 2017, Steve Schutte, chief operating officer of GLP, ordered the Gazeley team – headed in the UK by chief executive Nick Cook – to rest up because once the deal had been finalised it would be expected to hit the ground running. It has certainly done that. In the past four months, Gazeley has been a veritable deal-making juggernaut, purchasing land, making acquisitions and pressing the button on various spec schemes. Indeed, it has approved more deals in the first four months under GLP’s ownership than it had over the previous two years. The most significant, and a real statement of intent, was its announcement in April that it would build the UK’s first three-storey facility in Silvertown, east London.

Can the industry expect more of the same from Gazeley going forward? And what are the long-term ambitions of the developer under GLP’s ownership? Cook and Schutte outline their plans.