Work is to begin on a new £50 million car manufacturing facility near Sheffield.

The 75,000 sq ft unit will be developed by Harworth Group for McLaren Automotive at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Waverley.

Following the signing of a conditional 20-year lease by McLaren, construction is scheduled to begin in August. Completion is scheduled for summer 2018.

The facility will act as McLaren's new 'Composites Technology Centre', developing and building carbon-fibre tubs around which its vehicles are built.

The move follows McLaren's announcement in February to create 200 jobs at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District as part of its research partnership with the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

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Harworth has also signed a 15-year lease with an unnamed advanced manufacturer for a new 11,044 ft2 unit at the AMP.  The unit was speculatively built and the lease was completed within eight weeks of practical completion.

Owen Michaelson, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted to welcome McLaren to the AMP and to be able to support them in their ongoing growth.

"The two announced lease agreements serve as further examples of how we are improving the quality of our income base as we continue to deliver NAV growth across the portfolio.

"We are maintaining development momentum at the AMP and demand for new units remains high, with the McLaren deal demonstrating how the Harworth offering has evolved to incorporate the design and build of specialist purpose built units on behalf of blue-chip occupiers."

Elsewhere, Harworth has sold 8.17 acres to Taylor Wimpey for the construction of a further 130 houses on the Waverley development.

Mr Michaelson added: "The sale of residential plots to Taylor Wimpey marks our ninth sale of engineered housing land on Waverley. This will add to the 650 homes that have already built and occupied on the site since 2012, reflecting good demand for our engineered brownfield land from housebuilders."

(LM/MH)