In 2004, back when SEGRO was a small property company named Slough Estates, it struck a deal with the mighty Land Securities to exchange the majority of its retail properties for all of the latter’s industrial assets.

Last Friday, the now solely industrial-focused SEGRO overtook the retail- and London-office-focused Landsec to become the UK’s largest listed property group.

The roots of SEGRO’s meteoric rise can be traced back to that deal 14 years ago. Under the stewardship of the late Ian Coull, the strategy to focus on the industrial sector was put in motion.

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