After three decades of working in global capital markets, infrastructure projects, and complex real estate transactions, few people have as sharp a perspective on the evolution of business and property investment as Niall Lawlor. As a founding partner of Yeats, Niall sees Engine Works not just as another business park, but as a blueprint for the next cycle of commercial real estate.
The Engine Works Thesis: E-Commerce 3.0
We are living through a structural shift in how businesses operate and how goods are produced, marketed, and shipped. Niall describes this as E-Commerce 3.0 — an environment where global digital platforms like Amazon, Shopify, TikTok Shop, Etsy, and others have democratised retail. Today, millions of small and mid-sized operators run global businesses from highly scalable, digital storefronts, but these businesses still need real-world space: for inventory, for light manufacturing, for click-and-collect, for hybrid office-showroom operations, for fulfilment, for content creation.
That demand is fuelling an unprecedented need for modern, flexible, well-located business units that support these entrepreneurs and SMEs — not in giant logistics warehouses at the edge of the motorway, but in human-scale parks with purpose-built, energy-efficient, environmentally responsible spaces.
The Sweet Spot: Right Size, Right Spec, Right Now
Niall sees Engine Works as hitting this sweet spot:
Units that fit – Not too big, not too small. 2,000 sqft units with mezzanines give businesses the right scale for growth. Crucially, units can be combined and configured to allow businesses to expand as they scale — providing the flexibility that today’s entrepreneurs demand.
Location that works – Close to major population centres, transport routes, and last-mile distribution corridors.
Modern specification – Full compliance with today’s environmental standards: high energy efficiency, low CO₂ design, EV charging, fibre connectivity, and future-proofed services.
Flexible ownership and leasing options – Tenants can rent, purchase individual units, or acquire multiple units as part of long-term business or personal investment strategies.
Tax-efficient investment for private investors – Engine Works has been specifically designed to enable ownership within pensions, including Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) and SSAS structures. This allows investors to hold commercial property assets in a highly tax-efficient manner, generating secure income streams with strong capital growth potential over time.
A Generational Shift in Occupiers
Unlike traditional industrial parks filled with legacy occupiers, Engine Works reflects who the next generation of business owners are: online-first, digitally native, but still needing physical space to execute their operations. These are content creators, e-commerce entrepreneurs, fulfilment specialists, micro-manufacturers, and hybrid service businesses that blend online reach with real-world operations.
Timing Matters
Niall has built his career on understanding cycles — whether it was financing major Californian masterplans, navigating municipal bond markets, restructuring US community banks post-crisis, or delivering nationally significant infrastructure in the UK.
“This is exactly the right time to be developing modern business parks like Engine Works. We are seeing a structural shift in demand, underpinned by technology, demographics, and capital markets’ increasing focus on sustainable, income-generating real assets. These are not just sheds; they’re infrastructure for the new economy.”
Niall Lawlor
Founding Partner – Yeats
Engine Works: Where Tomorrow’s Businesses Start Today
At Yeats, we believe Engine Works represents one of the most exciting investment opportunities in the UK commercial real estate sector today: scalable, sustainable, future-focused — and perfectly positioned for the businesses that are rewriting the rules of commerce.
