Harworth Group has secured planning permission for a 500,000 st ft Microsoft data centre campus at Skelton Grange, Leeds.
Skelton Grange Leeds (West Yorkshire)
Harworth sold the site to the global technology giant in 2024 in a blockbuster £106.6m deal – the group’s largest sale to date. The former Skelton Grange power station site had been purchased by Harworth in December 2014 for about £3m.
The proposals for the site comprise 500,000 sq ft across three data centre halls and auxiliary buildings to be situated on plots one and two and 160,000 sq ft of industrial and logistics space and electric vehicle charging on Harworth’s 16-acre adjoining plot.
Harworth continues to deliver site remediation and enabling works on behalf of Microsoft.
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth, said: “Obtaining the resolution to grant planning consent is demonstrable progress towards the completion of the plot-two sale and reflects our close and effective collaboration with Microsoft.
“This transaction has driven group-level value growth and facilitates investment in the region, catalysing economic growth, with Skelton Grange estimated to deliver circa £4bn of inward investment when the development completes.”
She continued: “At Skelton, the 16 acres of adjoining land and our adjacent Gateway 45 site provide capacity for further development. Our powered land portfolio has a further 0.8 gigawatts of power connections, on top of our Skelton Grange site, and is well positioned to capture demand from data centre and other power-intensive sectors, providing the potential for further upside opportunities, delivering strong group-level value gains and attractive shareholder returns.”
The plans were approved unanimously by councillors on the city’s North and East panel, with a report to the meeting stating: “Data centres host and support the digital infrastructure that underpins modern life, from patient records and emails to product data and financial systems.”
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