IN FOCUS | Sheds are changing. Harworth is ready

Warehouses are no longer the freezing, utilitarian buildings of the 1980s – today’s industrial and logistics facilities target occupiers who demand strong sustainability credentials, quality offices, and green spaces, according to Stuart Murray, national customer development and leasing director at Harworth.

The Rotherham-headquartered developer would know. Harworth counts some of the largest global companies as its tenants, including Amazon, Rolls Royce, and Aldi. It claims £18.3m in headline rental income from its industrial properties.

Last year, Harworth sold 48 acres of its Skelton Grange project to Microsoft for £106m. The tech company will be building a giant data centre campus on the plot with Harworth as development manager.

Harworth has plenty to keep itself busy beyond Skelton Grange. In addition to the work with Microsoft, there are plans afoot for 1.1m sq ft at Hexagon Park in Bolton.

Harworth boasts a consented industrial and logistics pipeline of 8.7m sq ft, part of its wider 34.6m sq ft logistics-suitable land bank. Harworth’s current industrial portfolio is valued at £319m as of June.

Going forward, Harworth is looking to retain much of that portfolio once it has been delivered, rather than sell it off to the highest bidder as quickly as possible.

Stuart Murray is the national customer development and leasing director at Harworth. Credit: via Harworth

The Harworth way

When Murray talks about the sheds that Harworth is due to create, he speaks of ambition. There’s a Harworth way of doing things, he said – and a Harworth way of thinking. The focus is on the long-term, which means taking the time and making the effort to do things right.

Delivering spaces that pay attention to the environment and social elements of ESG is no longer a bonus. It is expected.

“What we are looking to do is really market leading,” Murray said.

A Harworth shed, he explained, is green. It boasts high-quality amenities, with offices that mirror the Grade A space you find in city centres. Even the kitchens and toilets get the designer treatment.

Windows bridge the world between the office and the warehouse, with shared entrances ensuring that the two workforces meet and feel unified.

Care is paid to its landscape – in some cases, there might even be a county park attached. Solar panels and EV charging capability are a given. BREEAM Excellent is expected.

The bland box of the past has had its day. Harworth, Murray said, has designs that are “pretty funky”.

“People view sheds as big grey boxes at the side of the motorway where brown boxes are moved around and driven around the country,” Murray said. “That is just not the case.”

Murray acknowledged that Harworth’s kitchenette designs for sheds has embraced the Guinness colour palette. Credit: via Harworth

He added later: “We’re trying to do things a bit differently and we want our buildings to be really good places to work. Ultimately, if we’re going to hold them in our portfolio, we want the buildings to last and be sustainable for the future…

“If you want to let buildings on good, long leases to good companies that want to stay in them, you’ve got to deliver the really good product.”

Murray continued: “It’s not a case of ‘if we spend a bit more and make it really good how much more rent are we going to get’.

“What it probably means is you’re going to let [the building] sooner and you’re going to let it to a better company that wants to stay in it.”

The year ahead

So, what does Murray forecast for 2026?

It is going to be a “tricky year”, he said, with take-up in line with 10-year averages but no higher. The North West will fare better than others, he argued, due to a lack of land supply.

The year will see construction start on Harworth’s Hexagon Park. There will also be progress on Northern Gateway – one of the largest projects in the country with a promise of 13m sq ft of employment space to be delivered through Harworth’s joint venture with Russell LDP.

Outline plans for the first phase were submitted in spring 2025 and has the support of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Murray described Northern Gateway’s location by the M60, M62, and M6 as “as prime as you can get”. He noted the strong labour market in the area and added that this project will “rejuvenate” its surrounding areas in Rochdale and Bury.

Northern Gateway forms the majority of the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone. Credit: via Font Comms

While the North West is short on ready-to-go industrial land, Yorkshire’s 2026 struggle will be around stock availability. This will especially be a problem as funding difficulties persists and smaller developers struggle to get their projects off the ground.

As for the North East, Harworth is keeping an eye on the market. The region is on the developer’s radar for potential land acquisition. Unlike in Yorkshire and the North West, logistics and distribution is not going to be the North East’s strong suit for Harworth. Murray said instead it will likely be sheds for manufacturing or infrastructure for power that dominate that market.

Despite Murray’s tricky year predictions, he was adamant that the sector was strong.

“Having worked in the industry for 30 years, logistics is really having its moment in the sun,” he said. “I think it will really cement itself as the key sector to get this country moving.”

Microsoft’s bid for Skelton Grange showed the strength of the industrial market in the region. Credit: via FTI

But for UK logistics to meet its true potential, there needs to be some work done to its image.

“I think local authority and government planning officers have to get their heads around the fact that the people working in warehouses are not just driving forklift trucks moving boxes around,” Murray said.

“You’ve got hundreds, if not thousands, of people with really good jobs, normally above the local pay wage rates. You have engineering, sales, mechanical, IT departments in these units,” he continued.

These sheds also double as some of the largest office spaces in the country, Murray pointed out, noting that around 5% to 10% of any new shed is likely offices at this point.

“Everyone would shout about letting 20,000 sq ft in the centre of Manchester – but if you let 500,000 sq ft in a warehouse it probably has 40,000 sq ft to 50,000 sq ft of offices in it as well,” he said. “I don’t think that gets the press that it deserves.”

Murray added: “Warehousing gets a bad rep when people think it’s poor-quality jobs in bad environments. I’d say it’s exactly the opposite.”