Frasers Group secures £53.5m land deal for mega-HQ
Frasers Group has acquired a 278-acre site in Ansty for its new global mega-HQ in a £53.5m deal.
The major retailer purchased the site from South Yorkshire-headquartered Harworth Group after Rugby Borough Council granted planning permission for the large-scale development last week.
Harworth originally secured an interest in the site in October 2019 and completed further land assembly over the next two years.
Frasers Group, led by Mike Ashley, submitted plans in October 2023 to relocate its headquarters from Shirebrook, Derbyshire, consolidating its warehouse operations into a single location.
The 112.9-hectare site, designed by architects Grimshaw, known for projects such as the Eden Project, London’s Excel Phase II, and Lloyds Banking Group headquarters, will feature a “campus heart” with office headquarters, concept retail research and development facilities, a gym to test equipment in real-time, leisure R&D spaces, a development and learning academy with a 750-seat auditorium, a 100-room hotel, a mobility hub, as well as retail and food and beverage areas.
Proposed group accommodations will include 80 units with a shared common room in the northwest of the site. In the south, five logistics buildings and offices will span more than 252,000 square feet, stretching from west to east.
The development is expected to create 7,680 jobs upon completion and generate £69 million in GVA for the region.
Harworth plans to reinvest the proceeds into infrastructure and development across its 9.6m sq. ft. consented industrial and logistics pipeline.
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive at Harworth, said: “The Ansty transaction demonstrates Harworth’s specialist ability in creating value from strategic land assembly which, alongside the strength of our balance sheet, enables us to take a longer-term view and develop the right schemes for our sites.
“Collaboration and partnership are key to unlocking schemes like this and we have worked closely with a number of different stakeholders on this project, including the Purchaser since exchange of contracts, ultimately enabling us to accelerate delivery of the site. Our ability to identify and unlock significant value from strategic land is a key factor in Harworth’s outperformance and we continue to identify and acquire strategic sites like Ansty to support our ambitious growth targets.
“Completing the Ansty deal last night, on the back of the Skelton Grange Plot 1 land sale to Microsoft last week, makes for a very Merry Christmas and marks the end of an exciting year at Harworth. I would like to say a huge thank you to my colleagues and stakeholders for your continued support, and we look forward to updating you on our operational progress in January.”
