SPRINGFIELD Properties saw its share price climb ten per cent in its first day of trading, after Sandy Adam, the group’s executive chairman, yesterday morning rang the bell to open the London Stock Exchange to commemorate the debut.

Mr Adam said the occasion marked the end of six months planning and it was now “the end of this chapter but we’ve still got the rest of the book to write”.

Shares ended their first day’s trading up 9.9 per cent at 116.5p, having opened at 106p.

The company floated with a market value of £87m. Current shareholders retained 70 per cent of the stock. “It was quite a ceremony that the Exchange puts on, and we’re delighted everything went successfully and we’re now a listed company on the stock market, which is an awesome thing to say,” said Mr Adam.

Springfield raised £25 million through its initial public offering (IPO), attracting investment from funds based in London and Edinburgh.

We’ve been talking about doing this for five to ten years but it was six months ago we thought this was the time to do it,” he added. “Six months of hard work pulling everything together and attracting the investment into Scotland, but I’m delighted that we’ve succeeded and it’s up to us to grow from here.”

The company will maintain its headquarters in Elgin and Mr Adam said: “It’s where I was born and brought up. We’re a large employer in the area and I’m delighted to have a listed company based in my home town.”

Springfield will use funds raised through the flotation to accelerate the completion of five “villages” it is developing, which will create 10,000 new homes.

Last year turnover passed £100m and made a £6.7m pre-tax profit.