Harworth Group buys warehouse units in £26m deal

The Rotherham-based firm said the acquisition is in line with its strategy to expand its predominantly industrial investment portfolio through the acquisition of high yielding properties with inherent value and growth potential.

Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth, said: “This off-market transaction is an excellent use of our significant financial headroom to further improve the resilience and depth of our investment portfolio, whilst also providing clear asset management opportunities to generate future value gains.

“The acquisition also underlines our ongoing commitment to invest in our core regions and given the obvious synergies to the Port of Liverpool, it directly supports Government efforts to rebalance the UK economy.”

Situated on a 35 acre site, Saturn Park has 416,000 sq ft of modern warehouse space across three units with ancillary offices. Located adjacent to Junction 4 of the M57, Saturn Park provides access to The Port of Liverpool and the M58, M62 and M6 motorways.

The site’s warehouse space is let to two tenants including Singleton Trading, a specialist importer and distributor of toys and goods to the North West, which occupies two units totalling 317,600 sq ft.

The third 77,000 sq ft unit is let to Relonchem, an independent pharmaceutical company. Four tenants occupy the majority of the open storage land across five leases, generating an annual passing rent of £628,000, whilst 10,500 sq ft of the 22,000 sq ft of office space is let to the NHS.

Harworth said it will use its significant asset management experience to drive further value at Saturn, including refurbishment works and enhanced marketing of the remaining vacant office space and land, whilst also exploring the potential for further development on the 4.25 acres of currently vacant land on the site.

Harworth’s investment portfolio generates £17m of income a year, making a considerable contribution to the group’s profits and value gains whilst covering the company’s overheads.

In March, Harworth appointed Richard Bousfield as head of income to boost its in-house asset management capabilities as it seeks to maximise capital values and rental income across the portfolio. He is responsible for acquiring high yielding investments.