Builders join forces for £10m projects

TWO building companies have launched a £10 million joint venture to work on housing and retail developments across the east of Scotland.

Dumfries-based Ashleigh Alba Group, whose clients include supermarket giant Tesco, has signed a deal with Edinburgh-based Melford Developments, which has worked on more than £400m worth of property projects.

News of the link-up comes just three weeks after Scotland on Sunday revealed that Ashleigh was in talks with potential joint venture partners in the east of Scotland as it looks to expand into developing properties in the leisure and retail sectors.

Ashleigh tested the water with a £1m retail “village” at Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, which is due to open next month, with Tesco as its main tenant.

Alex Steel, Ashleigh’s managing director, said: “This joint venture with Melford offered us exactly what we were looking for – the opportunity to explore opportunities in the east of Scotland and to gain a footing in the property market in the capital.”

He said they were already looking at eight possible sites for development.

Stuart Peters, chairman of Melford Developments, said the deal would create a “cradle to grave service”, from developing a site through to construction.

Peters added: “Ashleigh’s partnership initiative is to be welcomed into the market at this time.

“It demonstrates real progressive thinking and a desire for firms to pool their resources and work together to get the construction sector out of the doldrums and deliver a product that the consumer wants. It is a buyer’s market and that is the way it should be.”