Raw Charging, which focuses on EV sockets in hospitality and leisure locations, has opened its largest hub yet at a retail park owned by Aviva Investors.
The hub sits in the £33.5m Merrielands Retail Park, Dagenham, which was acquired by finance firm Aviva Investors in 2023, and returned a 5.5% yield in 2024.
While some charging firms, such as Gridserve and Fastned, often build dedicated hubs intended to serve as locations in their own right, others, such as Raw, focus on ‘destination’ points, installing sockets at places people will already be visiting.
The company has partnered with Greene King, National Trust and Merlin Entertainments, and in 2021 signed a deal with Aviva Investors, which manages £246bn of assets, to “fully fund EV charging across 60 sites within Aviva’s commercial portfolio”.
The Dagenham hub is one of the fruits of that contract, and is said by Raw to be an example of it converting “non-performing assets into valuable infrastructure aligned with long-term sustainability and ESG [environmental, social and governance] goals”.
The EV chargepoint business continues to be one of the faster paced sectors in the UK, although it is currently facing pressures from upcoming tax-code changes, while also being challenged by profitability that often remains elusive, an issue partly driven by the fact that, at present, 91% of electric car owners can charge at home.
Raw’s chief executive, Jason Simpson, described his firm’s latest venture as being in “exactly the kind of high-demand destination where fast, reliable charging makes a real difference for drivers and for landlords”.
Andrew Coles, a senior asset manager with Aviva Investors, comments: “It’s vital that our retail destinations offer the infrastructure and convenience that drivers need, adding that the hub “supports a more sustainable future for Barking and Dagenham” and also “enhances the experience for our tenants and their customers”.
