Sigma clinches management contract for £1bn development

SIGMA Capital, the Edinburgh-based investment firm in which Sir Tom Hunter’s West Coast Capital (WCC) holds a 22 per cent stake, has won a key contract to provide management services on a £1 billion Scottish housing development.

Under a deal announced yesterday with developer Regenco, the firm will be paid about £1.8 million over five years for work on the Winchburgh Development in West Lothian.

With some 3,500 homes, five schools, a town centre, town park, retail facilities and a commercial park, as well as associated infrastructure, Winchburgh is one of the largest development projects in the UK.

Sigma, which is shifting its focus to property after selling out of some of its early investments, has already managed the planning permission and commercial negotiations with West Lothian Council for Regenco.

Planning consent is expected to be granted next month, and Sigma has secured contracts with Barratt Homes and Miller Homes to build the 180 homes included in the first residential phase.

Chief executive Graham Barnet said: “Having successfully handled the planning and commercial negotiations, we are delighted to have signed the management contract for the first stage of the project implementation phase.”

He said the contract would strengthen the firm’s recurring income and offered the possibility of further performance-related payments.

Sigma will provide services such as securing contractors and marketing the first batches of homes to be built. It has hired former Redrow Homes Scotland director Graeme Dunlop, who has worked on the Winchburgh project, to be its land and development director.

News of the contract win came as Flying Brands, another Hunter-backed venture, announced plans to sell two of its businesses .

• Visit winchburghfuture.com for more details of the development