Harworth promises cost savings and higher returns as it fights £583m takeover bid from Doncaster Sheffield Airport owner Peel
Yorkshire-based land developer Harworth Group has told shareholders it can deliver cost savings of “at least” £7.4m as it fights to see off a takeover bid from Doncaster Sheffield Airport landowner and property giant Peel.
Peel, which is already a long-term investor in Harworth, is seeking to take over the company via a subsidiary called Peel Pepper through a £583m bid and has argued that Harworth’s assets would be “best owned, managed and developed under its full control".
Harworth’s board has issued a “unanimous and unequivocal” rejection of the bid and urged shareholders to take the same position.
It has now published further details of its plan “to accelerate key initiatives that would result in a simpler, lower-cost, higher returning platform”. It said its plan “can deliver higher and more sustainable returns for Harworth shareholders”.
The company said that by the end of 2028, it expects to achieve annualised cost savings of at least £7.4m. It said £1.3m has already been realised through reducing headcount this year and £6.9m worth of savings can be delivered by the end of 2027.
Harworth said its £7.4m target represents a 20.4 per cent reduction in the company’s 2025 administrative expenses of £36.3m.
Its statement added it believes further savings are achievable.
The company said: “The Harworth board aims to exceed the quantified cost savings within the timeframes outlined above, noting that the quantified cost savings exclude further efficiencies and value which the Harworth board believes will arise from the full implementation of Harworth's digital transformation project, which has been implemented over the last two years and is due to complete later this year.
"The timeline for achieving the quantified cost savings is not the same as the timeline for completing Harworth’s transition to a pure play powered land and industrial & logistics specialist.
"The Harworth board believes that costs can be reduced ahead of this transition being complete.
"The Harworth board remains unanimous and unequivocal in its rejection of the unrecommended offer, which, in its view, fundamentally undervalues Harworth and its near and longer-term prospects.”
Harworth was the property division of UK Coal, named after the Nottinghamshire village where the latter organisation was based.
Now listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Rotherham, it owns, develops and manages more than 14,000 acres of land on around 100 sites across the North and Midlands.
The company recently published results for the first six months of 2026, showing a £24.9m operating loss following drops in revenue and increasing administrative and IT project costs.
Shares in the company were up 0.5 per cent in early Tuesday trading following the new statement.