Harworth reveals 'advanced negotiations' for new data centre in wake of £106m Microsoft Leeds deal
Yorkshire-based regeneration specialist Harworth is in ‘advanced negotiations’ for the creation of a second data centre on its land following a £106m deal with Microsoft for a site in Leeds.
The Rotherham-based company sold land at the former Skelton Grange power station in Leeds to the tech giant in 2024 for use as a data centre.
It is now revealed it has identified an unnamed second site in its portfolio which could become a data centre.
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, it owns, develops and manages more than 14,000 acres of land on around 100 sites across the North and Midlands.
In a trading update to the Stock Exchange, the company said: “Following on from Harworth’s first hyperscale data centre transaction, a £106.6m land sale to Microsoft in 2024, the group is confirming today that it has identified a second site in its current portfolio of powered land that can deliver a hyperscale data centre.
"Harworth has entered advanced negotiations with several counterparties for the sale of the site, which benefits from planning consent and power connections, and has the potential to deliver total value gains which would be ahead of the group’s first hyperscale data centre transaction.
"Beyond this transaction, there are further potential hyperscale data centre opportunities within the group’s current portfolio, as well as smaller-scale digital infrastructure projects across its sites, including colocation facilities and edge providers.”
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth, said: “Harworth specialises in unlocking land at scale, with planning and power secured, and this is key to capturing high-returning development opportunities across the data centre and advanced manufacturing sectors. Our second data centre opportunity that we are highlighting today underlines Harworth’s position as one of the most significant regional players in the rollout of the UK’s digital infrastructure, working with some of the largest operators in the industry.
“In addition to these opportunities, we have seen strong momentum across our sales and lettings pipeline during the first half and into the second, including the first letting at our 1.1m sq ft Chatterley Park site, to an advanced manufacturer, and a further letting to a national logistics operator at our well-established Gateway 36 development.
“With our unique skillset, extensive land bank and 0.8GW of power connections across our portfolio either conditionally secured or in the pipeline, we are well positioned to accelerate our reallocation of capital to powered land and industrial growth sectors. This in turn will create a simpler, higher-returning platform to deliver sustainable future growth.”