SIR Tom Hunter has shown faith in the long term prospects for house builders in Scotland with a £100 million investment in a scheme for a new village in West Lothian in spite of making hefty losses in the sector in the past.
The Ayrshire entrepreneur has taken control of the giant Winchburgh development 11 miles west of Edinburgh where 3,500 new homes are planned along with a mix of retail and industrial space.
Sir Tom's West Coast Capital investment business is understood to have bought out a number of shareholders in the development in recent months, putting it in the driving seat for the scheme.
Details of the transactions have not been disclosed.
However, the latest accounts for the West Coast Capital Holdings property business filed at Companies House show the company recorded £107m work in progress in respect of Winchburgh at the end of its last financial year, on 30 March.
The company expect s that there will be five housebuilders on site at Winchburgh in January, reflecting strong demand for homes in the area. Barratt and Miller have started work.
Sir Tom said: "We view this, in our patient capital model as a 20 + year development so undoubtedly we'll see a couple of recessions and maybe a financial crisis thrown in so we need patience, determination, financial stamina and of course a wee bit of luck."
The comment indicates Sir Tom feels renewed confidence in his ability to back winners in the property sector after suffering costly reverses in the past.
After making around pound £290m from the sale of his Sports Division business to JJB in 1998, Sir Tom invested in property businesses in areas ranging from retail parks to housebuilders through West Coast Capital Holdings.
The venture suffered hefty losses on its investments in firms such as McCarthy & Stone and Crest Nicolson after the housing market went into reverse in 2007.
Yesterday Sir Tom said: "We lost money in the sector but it was not because the sector was wrong, it was because I got the timing wrong."
He added: "We just need to be a bit cleverer this time."
West Coast Capital Holdings returned to the black in the year to 30 March.
It made a pre-tax profit of £1.6m compared with a loss of £64.2m in the preceding year.
Since the year end the company has made a big book gain on its investment in a property investment vehicle it developed with entrepreneur Nick Leslau. The Secure Income Reit floated at 174p in the summer and traded at 300p yesterday.
Sir Tom's retail and technology investment vehicle West Coast Capital Trading also enjoyed an improvement in its trading in the latest year.
Abbreviated accounts show the company made a £5.2m retained profit in the year to 31 March.
The business lost £8m before tax in the 14 months to 31 March 2013. It had provided £100m in total against the value of investments at the end of that year.
While the retail operation made big gains on its investment in the successful Office footwear chain, it suffered losses on others over time, such as the USC clothing chain.
After West Coast Capital sold its 11 per cent stake in House of Fraser to Sports Direct in April, Sir Tom said it has no big holdings in high street stores businesses.
"We are just watching from the sidelines to see how retail, the high street and e-commerce is going to work out. There will be opportunities but just now it's going through a state of flux and we need to get our timing right," he said.
Sir Tom said West Coast has invested multiple millions in recent months.
West Coast Capital Trading has made significant investments in businesses that aim to make money by analysing the huge amounts of data that are now collected by organisations in industries such as retail and energy.
The company increased its investment in US firm Order Dynamics, formerly E-Commera, during the latest year. The company helps retailers interpret information in areas like sales and marketing.
Since the period end West Coast Capital has led a £4m funding round completed by Onzo, which produces technology that helps people manage their energy consumption.
West Coast Capital Holdings provided £61.7m against the value of its investments in the year ended 30 March 2013.
Sir Tom converted £163.8m loans owed by West Coast Capital Holdings into shares in the 2013 financial year and £150.9m owed by West Coast Capital Trading.
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