Tritax acquires 40 acres in St Helens from for IPL North

Plans for an 8.2m sq ft logistics scheme featuring a freight interchange have taken an important step forward with the purchase of land close to Junction 22 of the M6 from Harworth.

Tritax Big Box Developments has acquired the site, which falls within the Liverpool City Region Freeport, as part of the land assembly process for the 500-acre IPL North.

The industrial developer is currently preparing to submit a development consent order for the project, which could generate £230m for the economy and around £16.8m in business rates annually, according to Tritax.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

A spokesperson for Tritax Big Box Developments said: “Securing this land is an important step in strengthening the deliverability of Intermodal Logistics Park North as we prepare our development consent order application.

“The proposed interchange would support the movement of freight from road to rail, while delivering significant economic benefits.”

Harworth will reinvest the money into “higher-returning opportunities aligned to powered land and industrial growth sectors”, according to chief investment officer Jonathan Haigh.

“This transaction demonstrates continued strong demand for industrial and logistics strategic land and evidences Harworth’s acceleration of key initiatives to create a simpler, lower-cost and higher-returning platform.”