Event Summary
Yorkshire Industrial & Logistics: Summary, slides + photos
The clamour for data centres, the impact of the planned housing boom, the environmental challenges of building big sheds, and the hopes for what a new government can do to cope with the sector’s demands – all were on the agenda at the Yorkshire Industrial & Logistics conference held in Leeds.
Yorkshire Industrial & Logistics was sponsored by AEW Architects, Harworth, Glencar, Yardi and Environment Bank
State of the market
Vivienne Clements, executive director at HBD, opened with real positivity: “Our business plan is to have 70% of our activity in I&L. We’re seeing long-term structural change in the market and therefore you should all have a great deal of confidence in it. Traditionally, if retail went up, I&L went down, but with near shoring and the drive when leases are coming up to be ESG friendly, these sorts of things are forcing that marketplace to grow.”
Clements also referred to the positive knock-on effect of the Government’s drive for new homes: “If you think that between 50 and 100 sq ft of logistics space is required for every home built; 1.5m homes over five years, that’s potentially over 150m sq ft of space.”
David Rolinson, chairman of planning consultancy Spawforths, outlined what he said Secretary of State Angela Rayner had called a “critical shortage”. said: “The strategic land market is very strong at the moment. Land promoters are identifying sites and we’re bringing forward big box, mid box and tech space. The latest Knight Frank Logic [West Yorkshire & The Humber Q3 research] report shows there’s 15 months’ supply, and only seven months’ supply of grade A. Data centres, lorry parking – I’d endorse those as a need.”
Barry Wilkes, preconstruction and planning director at Glencar, said he hadn’t yet “seen a shift” since the General Election, but said his teams were perhaps “further down the line” than other panellists. He said he was seeing a strong focus on the refurbishment and repurposing of stock, with diversification into manufacturing, as much as industrial and logistics. He also argued the need for cleaner, greener stock was a priority: “We all know that funding is linked to the green performance of buildings and that has become the norm. I think every contractor in the sector knows what is expected.”
Data centre demand
There was a lot of talk of the growth of data centres – but strong warnings about the dearth of energy infrastructure to feed them. HBD’s Clements pointed out that the US has the most data centres in the world, around 5,300, followed at some distance by the UK and Germany with “just over 500”.
Rolinson said: “There is an absolute shortage of sites. Those that have power have a premium and there aren’t many strategic sites that have access to power.”
Clements added: “The manufacturing sector is competing for the same power, and data centres have deeper pockets.”
Asked by event chair, Paul Unger, publisher of Place Yorkshire, if occupiers were being “priced out” by data centres, Adam Varley, development director at Scarborough Group International, said: “That scenario is already being played out around Leeds. There’s a whole swathe of land that could have provided essential industrial and logistics space.
“But we are developers by our very nature and we have got to focus on profit and return. Data centres are not without a challenge in terms of the additional infrastructure and the associated costs, but we would look at it quite holistically.”
Planning woes
The panellists were united in their calls for more investment in local authority planning resource. Rolinson pointed out that the Government’s aim to recruit 300 new planners was “less than one per authority”. Clements said the Government needed to accept that councils don’t have the money to fund the planning process. She even suggested developers be allowed to pay external planners to do the legwork so that council officers simply have to create the reports to present to members. “It just means we can move on and get going. The big [planning] policies are really important but if you can’t get the process delivered it’s a complete waste of time.”
Donny in demand
Alex Dochery, investment team manager for Business Doncaster at Doncaster Council, had a lot to promote about the young city, not least the 125-year lease the authority has signed with Peel which should reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport to passenger flights. He was also excited by Holtec Britain’s proposal to bring a small modular nuclear reactor to South Yorkshire, bringing with it £1.6bn of gross value added to the economy including through 3,000 jobs supported or created.
- Download slides | Alex Dochery – Yorks I&L
He also outlined key projects such as GatewayEast, where there are strong design-and-build opportunities, and iPort, an advanced logistics hub connected to the Channel Tunnel and Immingham port, which he predicts will “shortly be fully maxed out”. Further north is Unity Yorkshire, one of the largest mixed-use development sites in the UK on the former Hatfield Colliery site, which will include more than 3,000 new homes and “substantial” commercial opportunities. TJ Morris, parent company of Home Bargains, has already committed to creating 1,000 new jobs, while an academy will boost the local skillset.
Then there’s Doncaster North, where he says there is a “unique” opportunity to build a 1.15m sq ft space, and the Stainforth Transformation project, with £21.6m of Town Deal investment in parks, community, rail stations and roads.
“We wouldn’t be able to achieve all this if we didn’t have a solutions approach,” Dochery said.

North Yorkshire Council’s Richard Beason challenged the stereotypical perception of the area. Credit: PY
More than a holiday destination
Richard Beason, economic development manager at North Yorkshire Council, said his authority has “six locations that are ready to go”. He described a place “beyond expectation” and took delegates on an extensive brownfield site tour which included Marshall’s Core 62, on the former Eggborough Power Station site, and Harworth’s Skelton Grange, which has been bought by Microsoft for a new data centre. There was also Cole Waterhouse’s Konect62 at the former Kellingley Colliery. Glentrool’s Sherburn 2, and Harworth’s Gascoigne Interchange, make up Beason’s list. He played up the latter’s potential for greener connectivity: “We want to put more and more freight on to rail.”
- Download slides | Richard Beason Yorks I&L
Beason also highlighted Harrogate 47, on the A1M, which it is hoped will boost the area’s wealth of local manufacturing businesses, and J53 Scotch Corner, with its proximity to Teesside and the port.
He concluded: “One thing I want you to take away is that North Yorkshire is not just a place to go on holiday. Think of it as a place to build a nice big warehouse.”
Environmental challenges
Sean Rooney, account director of planning and delivery for Environment Bank, detailed potential solutions for tackling the biodiversity net gain legislation introduced in February. The law now requires the replacement of any lost biodiversity, plus an additional 10%, on all new developments. Because this can be done on and off site, his company has created a network of sites across the UK – with a strong focus on Yorkshire.
“There’s a lot of demand around Sheffield, Doncaster and North Yorkshire,” he said. “We are working with larger developers and retail providers.”
Peter Bartley, head of sustainability at AEW Architects, discussed the complexities of ESG in regard to tenants’ commitment to net zero. He advised: “Understand what ‘good’ looks like, not just today but five or 10 years in the future.”
Mapping out a plan
Asked about the ideal geography, James Appleton-Metcalfe, managing director at Citivale, said: “You want to be close to the large cities and the major networks. If you’ve got a rail freight terminal – brilliant. We’ve talked a lot about power – if you have a site that’s close to where the wind power comes in from the North Sea, you’ve hit a home run because you’ll get a data centre. For everyone else, you want to be close to an urban area. Investors are laser focused on location, supply, take-up, ESG, power. These guys are drilling in to make sure you are ticking every box.”
Chancellor’s Budget
Asked about their “Budget wish lists”, Jonathan Ufton, director of UBS, said: “We need to see some form of investment for the country as a whole; there’s been a period of doom and gloom. We know what sentiment does to the market. Sort out planning and the fundamentals and make life simpler for people.”
AEW’s Bartley wanted more investment committed to net zero including energy infrastructure and retrofit, in “areas government can pump prime”, while Rooney hoped for more focus on renewable energy and funding for “grassroots in planning authorities at a local level”. Appleton-Metcalfe wanted investment in energy and infrastructure and cited a discussion he watched featuring international business leaders who claimed it can take longer to get anything done in the UK than in Europe. “Red tape stops things happening.” However, on a positive note he added: “The future is quite exciting as there hasn’t been a lot of speculative development recently. Making that spec development stack up at this point in time is hard. If the base rate comes down, you will see more liquidity in the market.”
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Place North Question Time | 5 November
Place Yorkshire Christmas Social | 12 December
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