Ocado
Price range between 200p and 275p
Questor says AVOID
Is Ocado’s Hatfield distribution centre the most expensive piece of real estate in the UK?
We only ask because the grocery e-tailer is about to float later this month with a valuation of up to £1.2bn.
Apart from its vast distribution centre, a few smaller ‘spoke’ warehouses and a fleet of vans, Ocado does not really own anything: it sells Waitrose products and has no stores as it sells solely from the internet.
Hatfield, therefore, must be worth an awful lot of money. Buckingham Palace was valued at “only” £1bn in 2008 and that sits in 40 acres in central London and has 775 rooms, including 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.
Ocado’s Hatfield site, which sits in around 23 acres of prime Hertfordshire industrial land, is a whizzy place, but can it really be worth more than the Queen’s residence? C