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Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved.
Design and built by Allott and Associates Ltd
Onward Holdings is a commercial property specialist with over 90 years of experience in logistics, property development, and property investment. Founded initially by Willie Storey as Ackworth Transport Company in September 1930, the company is now a fourth-generation family business with bases throughout the north of England.
Our mission is to provide ‘space for all’. Whether our customers are looking for 10 sqft or 100,000 sqft, a retail unit or an industrial unit, we have a range of properties to suit their needs. We also offer pallet RH&D (Receipt, Handling and Despatch) and pallet storage at our Castleford 3PL site.
Fourth-generation directors Will Storey and Kieren Bloomer have focused on adapting our business to the demands of the modern logistics and commercial property markets. Will has focused on improving our sustainability by updating our ESG policy. Kieren has looked at how we can keep our offerings competitive in a market of increased uncertainty.
When it comes to partnering with businesses Neil Storey, our director, promotes the philosophy that good communication and collaboration should be prioritised first and foremost. This philosophy has been a successful formula for us and was key to securing long term leases at our Junction Point and Good Hope Close warehouses.
Currently, Onward Holdings provides a substantial choice of commercial and personal units. This includes:
Most of the sites are strategically placed near motorway networks and transport links in Yorkshire for easy access. A number of the sites are also based on reclaimed land, in keeping with the company’s philosophy of reducing, where possible, the environmental impact of development.
Onward has multiple light industrial units ranging in size and location. These trade counter units house a wide variety of tenants, from vehicle wrapping and customisation to pet supplies and fireplaces.
Having held multiple high street retail properties for many years, in 2011 Onward expanded into retail parks. Some of our most recent projects include:
Our current retail portfolio consists of a mix of retail park and high street units, to find out more visit retailtorent.co.uk.
A mainstay of Onward’s offerings has always been its large industrial units. And over our almost century in business we have built and developed many warehouses. Our current offering spans units from 20,000 sqft to 120,000 sqft. The large units currently in our portfolio house national and multinational tenants.
In 2011 an opportunity arose for Onward to rejoin the logistics industry as a service provider. Almost 20 years after leaving the logistics industry, Onward made its return by offering a 3PL service at our Castleford site.
In the years since we have provided 3PL services for local and international brands. We offer 3PL services to customers who need managed storage for either 1 pallet or 10,000 pallets. However, due to the popular nature of our 3PL services, space is always rare. Alongside our 3PL service, we offer our customers additional services such as:
Having built and developed our depots across the country during the days of Ackworth and Onward transport. In 2015, Onward purchased a 108,000 sqft unit near Junction 31 on the M62 with the aim of re-developing the unit.
This unit was fully refurbished to a high standard which attracted the interest of a multinational logistics company who subsequently signed a lease on the property. Following this, the property was sold and Onward was ready for its next development. Since 2015, we have spec built a 60,000 sqft unit and redeveloped three 60,000 sqft units in Leeds and Wakefield.
Initially started over 15 years ago at our original depot in Ackworth, our Green Door Self Store brand has grown from 20 containers to our current site in Featherstone which has 84 self-storage units ranging in size from 10 sqft to 85 sqft.
Our founder, Willie ‘Bill’ Storey started the business in 1930 with the purchase of his first truck. Originally, we transported goods across the UK and Europe by road. As the business became more and more successful, Bill invested in multiple other haulage businesses and by the 1960s he employed over 600 people across 30 sites.
The business first expanded into warehousing and distribution in 1955 after Bill purchased depots in London, Selby and Barnsley. Since then, we’ve worked with big names such as Kellogg’s, Spillers Feeds and BP Chemicals.
In the 1990s the business transitioned to focus more heavily on commercial property. As a result of this, we started to sell our transport business to BOC with the final truck gone in 1994.
The growth of the property business saw the construction of multiple 60,000 sqft plus warehouses and the re-development of four warehouses. We have also added additional warehousing units to our portfolio over the years to meet our customers’ needs.
After further growth, self-storage facilities were added to Onward’s portfolio. We opened our Green Door self-storage site in Ackworth in 2010. The current purpose-built facility in Featherstone has 84 individual self-storage units of varying sizes and there is often a waitlist for customers requiring a unit.
Our most recent portfolio diversification added retail parks. This started with the purchase of Glebe Park in Scunthorpe. Then followed our investment in Onyx Retail Park in Wath-Upon-Dearne which saw us build a 14-unit retail park.
Nowadays, the warehousing side of the business is located in Castleford. Our Operations Manager, Paul Williamson, looks after our 3PL facilities and ensures that any supply chain disruptions have minimal impact on the shipment of our customers’ goods.
Our retail and self-storage units complement our business helping us to achieve our mission of providing space to all businesses, no matter their operational requirements.
Below shows our history in a few interesting photos. Please do not use these pictures without first obtaining permission from Onward Holdings.
Today, Onward Holdings remains a proud family run business, dedicated to providing exceptional service and maintaining strong relationships with our clients. We strongly believe that our history is a testament to our commitment and adaptability. To learn more about our current commercial property offering, contact our team.
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved.
Design and built by Allott and Associates Ltd