Shares in Sigma Capital, the Edinburgh-based urban regeneration specialist, jumped by over three per cent as it unveiled a strategic partnership, writes Simon Bain.
It said the partnership with leading housing and regeneration company Keepmoat intended to deliver over 5,000 new private rented sector (PRS) homes with a potential investment value of £800m across England by 2021. Construction on the first site is due to begin this summer.
Keepmoat as developer will deliver two, three and four bedroom properties in locations across the North East, Yorkshire and the East Midlands. AIM-listed Sigma will manage investment and lettings while Keepmoat will procure the land and take the lead on design, planning and building processes.
The relationship will significantly increase Sigma’s construction resource, its access to land, and its geographic reach, and complements its long-term agreement with Countryside Properties and other relationships.
Graham Barnet, chief executive, said the partnership had grown out of an existing relationship and Sigma’s continued expansion in the PRS sector. He added: “We are very pleased that Keepmoat has chosen to work with Sigma in its first development activity in the PRS market, and believe that it underscores Sigma’s success in the sector. In line with Sigma’s strategy, this partnership will enable us to expand into other parts of the UK, where currently we do not have coverage.”
Dave Sheridan, chief executive at Keepmoat, said: “This is a significant milestone for our business, and we are proud to be working alongside Sigma to scale-up their PRS growth ambitions.”
In April Sigma reported a 10-fold increase in pre-tax profit to £2.14 million, with revenue up 74per cent to £6.72m. It is aiming to deliver more than 10,000 PRS homes, though has yet to announce a project in Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here