This spectacular overhead image speaks volumes about the scale of the warehouse that has sprung up alongside the M606 motorway on the approach to Bradford.

At 1.1m sq ft, the gargantuan structure is set to become the largest distribution centre in the Marks & Spencer network.

It has been announced that the new building, bigger in scale than Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre, will be officially opened on Tuesday by Sir Stuart Rose, the outgoing chief of M&S.

He will be joined at the launch event by Darrell Stein, the company’s IT and logistics director.

The hitherto nondescript grey steel building is now adorned with the distinctive emblem of M&S, distinguishing it from other industrial premises that greet motorists arriving in the city via the M606.

Regeneration chiefs say the grand opening will mark the culmination of much hard work from both the public and private sector.

More than four years have elapsed since members of West Bowling Golf Club agreed to sell their course to US developer Prologis for the creation of a giant business park.

The scheme was granted planning permission by Bradford Council in April 2008, and construction work began a year later following massive earthworks to level the 90-acre site.

Construction work at the site has already paid handsome dividends for local industry, with two sub-contractors from the district playing a key role in the development.

Barrett Steel Buildings, based in Cutler Heights Lane, Dudley Hill, won the £4m contract to fabricate and erect 3,000 tonnes of steelwork, while Atlantic CSP, based in Airedale Road, Keighley, carried out work to provide the building’s storm water retention system, involving the installation of 1,200 metres of underground tubing and a storage tank that can hold 3,000 cubic metres of water.

M&S has yet to clarify how many jobs the new distribution centre will create.

When it was first announced in 2007, the project was expected to lead to 2,500 jobs at the M&S centre, as well as an extra 500 to 1,000 jobs across the remainder of the site. More recently, M&S said the initial work was expected to see 200 to 300 jobs on site and this is expected to reach in excess of 1,200.

Councillor David Green, executive member for regeneration and economy on Labour-led Bradford Council, said: “The opening of the Prologis site is the culmination of a lot of hard work by Council officers working with the developer and Marks & Spencer.

“Clearly, we hope it’s going to attract further investment into that area of Bradford with the extra jobs that are going to be needed in the current economic climate.

“We want to maximise the employment potential of that site, not just in terms of the number of jobs, but high-quality jobs as well.

“It demonstrates how successful we can be in the public sector working hand-in-hand with the private sector.

“The old golf course, being so close to the motorway, is ideal for the M&S centre, and what we want to do is to use those transport links to attract further investment.”

Indeed, the site is widely regarded as an easily-accessible location, at the junction of the M606 and the Bradford ring road, just three miles north of junction 26 of the M62 at Chain Bar.

Coun Green, who represents the Wibsey ward, was asked what was being done to ensure local people benefited from the scheme’s employment opportunities.

He said: “The Council has been working on that since M&S signed the deal to try to ensure that people in the local area and the district as a whole have the skills and abilities that M&S are looking for in their new development.

“We used many of the funding streams that have now been cut to achieve that, which highlights how partnership working between the public and private sectors can be effective.”

Meanwhile, Prologis has promised to work with future occupiers of the business park and Bradford Council’s Jobs@ service to help ensure that a local workforce can be recruited and trained in time to meet occupiers’ requirements.

From the outset, Prologis promoted the vision of creating a logistics hub in the area. With the completion of the M&S building – the first phase of the project – attention is now turning to phase two, which could see the construction of another large building on an adjacent 12.7-acre site.

Prologis has produced a brochure to promote phase two and galvanise interest among potential partners.

The brochure outlines plans for a 250,000 sq ft build-to-suit warehouse, deliverable in 24 weeks.

It says a design team is in place to deliver a sustainable carbon-neutral building to specific needs.

Meanwhile, Prologis is also actively promoting plans for advanced business and enterprise units within the Grade II listed 17th century Newhall building at the Rooley Lane entrance to the Prologis Park business park.

The Newhall site, totalling 5.15 acres, has outline planning approval for the development of business units up to 80,730 sq ft and within use classes B1 and B8.