‘Confident’ Harworth reaps rewards of regional focus

Developer Harworth Group has said it is ‘confident’ of its performance in 2019, saying that residential and commercial demand has remained steady despite “short-term political headwinds”.

The Rotherham-based group, which has recently appointed its first chief operating officer, has applications out for 1,715 sites across Yorkshire, the North West and the Midlands, saying that its move to a regional model had also started to bear fruit.

In March, Harworth’s 50/50 joint venture development with Evans Property Group at Gateway 45 Leeds, was sold to Leeds University for its new Institute for High Speed Rail and System Integration. Contracts were also exchanged with UKLV in April for the sale of 43 acres of land to deliver 855,000 sq. ft of speculative distribution space.

These transactions represent a total consideration of £30.3m, Harworth’s share of which will be reinvested into the wider portfolio.

At Harworth’AGM this wek, Owen Michaelson, chief executive, will make the following statement: “Harworth has continued to make good operational progress in the first five months of the year on its in-year priorities, whilst also evolving its organisational structure to drive the delivery of its strategic objectives in its core regions.

“Demand for land for new homes and high-quality commercial space in our regions continues to remain solid and is weathering short-term political headwinds. Trading remains in line with the Board’s expectations.

“Our focus remains consistent: maximising the value of our strategic land bank and major developments to deliver long-term value to shareholders; and growing and improving the quality of income through a combination of new lettings and the selective recycling of the income portfolio.

“We are maintaining financial headroom and low gearing to provide flexibility to support the continued growth of the business as we drive individual projects through value growth milestones.

“We look forward to the remainder of 2019 with confidence.”

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