Ian Coull, chief executive of Segro, formerly the Slough Estates, can afford to blast a broadside over the bows of the Treasury and its plans to scrap rates relief for empty UK industrial property.

One way of getting around the risk of an extra tax hit from the srapping of empty premises rates relief is simply to slow down the rate of speculative development - building without a tenant lined up - or stopping such construction altogether. Shareholders however don't want simply to save money. They need to see growth to get their returns on capital. Fortunately Mr Coull is not constrained to Britain - he has a continental European platform from which to grow.

At the end of July last year - just weeks before the credit crunch bit on the commercial property market - Segro completed the disposal of its US business, bagging £1.4 billion in cash for investors. Today Mr Coull still has £1.1 billion of available funds to spend on developing his pipeline.

Segro's built assets in Central and Eastern Europe were valued at December 31 at £1.6 billion, according to annual figures published yesterday. The value of Segro's buildings in the UK were valued at £2.6 billion.

The construction pipeline reveals that Segro sees its future in continental Europe. Out of 306,000 square metres of new industrial space currently under construction, only 53,000 square metres is being built in the UK, at a cost of £118 million. The rest is on the Continent and will cost a mere £183 million to erect. Beyond that Segro has indentified another 353,000 square metres of potential developments in continental Europe, compared with 112,000 square metres in the UK.

Meanwhile the credit crunch has taken its toll on the value of Segro's built assets in the UK, with a 9.5 per cent writedown, or £362 million deficit. The value of its continental assets grew by 6.2 per cent over the same time period, worth a £54 million surplus.

The UK industrial lettings market may have remained robust but prices of buildings since January have continued to slide. With values holding their ground on the Continent it should come as no surprise where Segro will be investing its cash pile in the near future.

Until investor conditions begin to improve in the UK, Mr Coull will feel he has every right to attack the Government's decision - without consultation - to scrap empty premises rate relief. Other developers, like Brixton, which do not have the luxury of a continental platform, may be more measured in their criticisms of the Government. But rest assured they are just as angry.

This scrap shows no signs of abating.