Harworth makes £12.7m buy

Industrial developer Harworth Group has acquired Towngate Business Park, a multi-let industrial estate in Widnes, from Yorkshire property company Towngate.

The asset is fully let and generates rental income of £958,000 per year with an average unexpired lease term of 4.3 years. The deal reflects a net initial yield of 7.1% and a reversionary yield of around 9.4%.

Harworth was advised by Metis and Freeths, while B8 Real Estate and Littler Associates represented the vendor.

Towngate Business Park, a former Golden Wonder factory, comprises 262,000 sq ft of industrial space, now divided into nine warehouse units ranging from 4,000 sq ft to 77,000 sq ft; along with 3.8 acres of open storage. Occupiers include Aggreko UK, Xpel Marketing, Initial Packaging and QA Flooring.

Harworth said it intends to invest in the estate, leveraging its asset management expertise to capture rental reversion and explore infill development opportunities over the medium term. The Everite Road site provides easy access to the M62 and M6 via the M57 and M56.

The acquisition has been funded by proceeds from Harworth’s active churn strategy in its income portfolio, recycling capital through the disposal of non-core assets or those with completed asset management business plans.

Harworth, the developer of Logistics North and currently awaiting a verdict on major plans at Wingates, last month reported pre-tax profit of £33.4m.

Richard Bousfield, head of income at Harworth Group, said: “Towngate Business Park is a fantastic addition to our income portfolio, adding recurring income whilst also presenting asset management opportunities to generate future value.

“The acquisition builds on our ambition to grow our exposure in the North West, where the industrial market continues to see very high levels of occupier demand and extremely limited supply.”