Knights' Asset Management team has advised Langley Holdings in connection with the transformation of part of its Baltic Park estate into a multi-million pound regional ‘COVID’ hub.

In 2018 Langley Holdings built Baltic Park, a six-acre industrial unit and warehousing development in Gateshead. As the response to the COVID-19 pandemic developed over 2020, the Government's Test and Trace programme expanded to 'Lighthouse Laboratories', offering high-volume, rapid turnaround of COVID-19 tests.

Langley's warehouses at Baltic Park presented the ideal facility for the North-East's lab, which will process up to 80,000 COVID-19 tests per day. The multimillion-pound development, approved by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, will strengthen the region's resilience and response to Coronavirus and create more than 1,000 local jobs.

Knights' team, led by Erin Vickers, negotiated and completed a complex suite of documents between Langley Holdings and Newcastle-upon-Tyne NHS Foundation Trust. The facility will be leased for 5 years and serves a hugely critical role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Erin Vickers said: "This was a time-critical and sensitive project for Knights and Langley Holdings. Our priority was to ensure a smooth negotiation process with the best possible outcome for our client and its tenants. It was our privilege to have been involved in such an important investment project in the fight against COVID-19".