Despite one of the wettest winters on record for the United Kingdom, progress has been swift on J4M8, a large warehouse and distribution development in the central belt of Scotland close to Junction 4 of the M8 motorway which links Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The largest speculative warehouse development ever in Scotland began in December 2006 and is right on target for completion in September/October 2007, despite the wettest couple of months on record, with heavy rain nearly everyday, more than double the amount predicted.

The development consists of some 620,000 square feet of high bay warehousing, with MAX 1 at 380,000 square feet and MAX 2 at 240,000 square feet. It will provide an occupier with buildings designed to reflect the latest thinking in warehousing and distribution and, with completion in the autumn, could be ready to service the Christmas retail supply chain.

Cold winters and their effects on site are common problems but, when persistent heavy rain is the order of the day, clever coordination and planning are required by the site management, plus excellent working relationships with the subcontract teams. Cooperation and planning have been first class in the adverse conditions, allowing great flexibility in the work involved and the scheduling of the construction operations. Each and every day progress was made, even though the rain on some days was of monsoon quantities.

It is testament to the relationship that Gladman fosters with its subcontractors that such good progress has been made.