Henry Boot sells industrial development site at Pickford Gate

Property developer Henry Boot has completed the sale of an industrial and logistics development site in Coventry to Royal London Asset Management Property for an undisclosed sum.

The site at Pickford Gate, which covers 52 acres of land for development, has outline planning consent for 645,000 square foot of new employment space comprising primarily industrial and logistics, as well as research and development facilities.

While no sale price was given, Henry Boot said the transaction resulted in an ungeared internal rate of return of 21.8% per annum.

Henry Boot's land promotion and planning business, Hallam Land, secured an initial planning promotion agreement with the landowners to promote the wider Pickford Gate site in 2015, and secured outline planning consent for the 52-acre land parcel, as well as 2,400 homes, in 2021.

Hallam Land had already sold 247 plots at Pickford Gate to Countryside Partnerships in March 2023 and 491 plots to David Wilson Homes in September 2024. It retains a further 1,662 plots for future sale.

"This latest deal at Pickford Gate marks another successful outcome on behalf of both our shareholders and the landowners we have partnered with on the project," said Henry Boot's chief executive Tim Roberts.

"Pickford Gate will have a huge impact, transforming the local area, delivering much-needed homes and employment opportunities. We look forward to seeing the next phases of the development come to life."

The stock was up 1.6% at 229.71p by 1023 GMT.