News: Henry Boot waits on pre-lets at Northfields development

Sheffield-based land and construction group Henry Boot has found success at the Northfields development in Rotherham but is waiting on further pre-lets before commencing on the second phase.


In a financial statement, the company said that the 50,000 sq ft B&Q at Northfields Industrial Park at Parkgate has continued to trade well and that lettings have now been completed on the two 5,000 sq ft, speculatively built industrial units.

Trade retailer, Tile Giant, part of Travis Perkins, and Quay Plastics, a national plastics manufacturer, have both exchanged contracts to occupy the units, with the latter already making the move across town.

The group stated that: "The demand for further bulky goods retail space has remained subdued and existing vacant stock in the area has soaked up any demand. Therefore, development of the second phase of 50,000 sq ft of retail space will only commence once we have obtained viable pre-lets."

They did however add that they saw continuing interest in the remaining industrial land, in addition to working on alternative, higher value uses.

The park has secured planning permission for a wide a range of uses in order to make the development available to a broader spectrum of potential occupiers. The developers have also bid to secure funding from the European Regional Development Fund to bring forward the speculative development aimed at SMEs in growth sectors.

Henry Boot reported that revenue increased to £66.9m from £55.1m in 2010 with profits for the first half of the year increasing from £5.8m to £11m.

Henry Boot website

Images: Henry Boot