Kellingley on track as talks progress

The Rotherham-based group​ has secured planning consent for 1.45m ​square feet of employment space at the former mine and said hundreds of new jobs could be created on the site, bringing £200m of economic benefit to the region.​

Kellingley, the last of the UK’s deep mines, closed in December 2015. Harworth took control of the site in March 2016 with an ambitious 10-year plan to revive the area and create more jobs that the original mine offered.

Harworth's chief executive ​Owen Michaelson said the group is in discussion with one major occupier and hopes to complete a deal by the end of 2018.

"The redevelopment of Kellingley will redeploy more people than when it was a colliery. It employed 700 people at the end. We only need to be half as successful as Waverley to achieve that," he said.

Waverley refers to the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the site of the former Orgreave Colliery which now employs 1,500 people.

Harworth has signed up some high profile tenants including Rolls-Royce, Boeing and more recently McLaren Automotive, which is taking a 20-year lease on a new 75,000 sq ft unit.

Mr Michaelson said these deals reflect the strength of the manufacturing sector in the North of England and the attractiveness of the AMP to meet growing demand.

"In the spring, we also announced a new joint venture with Dransfield Properties, to deliver a new retail, office and leisure scheme at Waverley," he said.

"A planning application for a total of 193,722 sq ft was submitted to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in July and we hope to secure a full planning consent during the second half."

Harworth targets high quality tenants in a bid to kick start areas that have been neglected following the the end of deep coal mining in Britain.

"We are bringing new jobs to former collieries. We go for high quality users and convince them to start employing people again. We offer well located sites and quality buildings," said Mr Michaelson.

The group said it is making good progress at Waverley.

"The steel is going up on the McLaren facility and we've got planning in for the next phase. A lot of construction is going on and we're building 200 houses a year," said Mr Michaelson.

Around 750 homes have already been built across the site at Waverley.

Harworth hopes that Kellingley will be of the same magnitude as Waverley.

"Kellingley is attracting multi-national interest," said Mr Michaelson.

"We really want to go for these high profile names. Big names bring in additional investment although the vast majority of tenants are SMEs."

Asked whether the slow progress in Brexit talks could hinder the group's progress, he said no-one has been put off yet and Harworth's markets are open for business.

"If you look at the AMP you've got really skilled people delivering high end goods. That's why Boeing, Rolls-Royce and McLaren are attracted."

He added that the group has greatly benefited from working with pro-active local authorities that are keen to regenerate their areas.

"The local authorities in the Northern Powerhouse region are open for business," he said.

"They want to help us. Authorities like Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley are a pleasure to deal with."

He was speaking as Harworth announced results for the six months to June 30.

Operating profit rose 11 per cent to £1.0m and value gains (including development properties) increased 36 per cent to £10.1m.

The group said that full year financial forecasts are in line with the board’s expectations but are, as usual, weighted towards the second half.