A new trade park in Livingston, Scotland which will help businesses grow and create jobs is to benefit from £2.18 million of public investment.
The loan, financed from the £150 million Building Scotland Fund, is being delivered through the Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres fund. It will be used to help speculatively develop 40,000 square feet of new industrial and trade counter accommodation at Livingston Trade Park on Houstoun Industrial Estate, leading to further business investment and jobs in West Lothian.
Announcing the funding on a visit to the site, which is due for completion in October 2019, Investment Minister Ivan McKee said: “I am pleased the Building Scotland Fund has been able to support this development, which will help stimulate the local economy and bring more investment to the area. The £2.18 million loan will deliver opportunities for businesses to create new jobs and encourage more investment to grow the local economy.”
Mike Walker, Development Director at Chancerygate , the industrial developer delivering the project, said: “We have an established reputation for seeking out and realising untapped potential when it comes to industrial developments. Our investment in creating Livingston Trade Park is a great example of this approach and it is driving our continued success and ongoing growth strategy. We are developing speculatively in Livingston because we are confident there will be strong demand for our units, particularly as there have been very few new build industrial property opportunities in the area for years.”
Cameron Cook, Head of Origination for Amber Infrastructure in Scotland, the company which manages the SPRUCE fund, said: “The SPRUCE Fund is delighted to have reached financial close on this important project, providing much-needed world-class leading industrial and logistics space into the West Lothian market. We look forward to working closely with Chancerygate to ensure the success of the Livingston Trade Park project over the coming years.”
BACKGROUND
The project, which is being delivered by Chancerygate , will receive a £2.18m loan from the SPRUCE Fund, managed by Amber Infrastructure, using finance committed to SPRUCE by the Building Scotland Fund, the pre-cursor to the Scottish National Investment Bank.
More information on the £150m Building Scotland Fund
More information on the Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The £150m Building Scotland Fund, a precursor to the Scottish National Investment Bank, is available to non-public sector organisations - including businesses, housing associations and universities - to support the development of industrial and commercial space, to support the development of house building across all tenures, and to support business-led research and development.
SPRUCE is an evergreen fund originally co-financed with £50 million from the Scottish Government and EU funds and managed on behalf of Scottish Ministers by the European Investment Bank (EIB), with investments made by an independent investment manager Amber Infrastructure on their behalf. SPRUCE offers loans and equity investments to revenue-generating infrastructure and energy-efficiency projects, supporting regeneration initiatives in areas right across Scotland.
Amber Infrastructure Group is a leading international infrastructure specialist, providing asset management and investment advisory services in respect of over £8 billion of assets in the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. Amber’s core business focuses on sourcing, developing, advising on, investing in and managing infrastructure assets including regulated utilities, social infrastructure and sustainable energy. Amber provides investment advisory services to International Public Partnerships Limited as well as private investment funds, specialising in urban regeneration and digital infrastructure. Amber is headquartered in London with offices in Edinburgh, Munich, Sydney, San Francisco and New York and employs over 120 people, making it one of the largest international infrastructure specialists.
Chancerygate was founded in 1995 and has offices in London, Birmingham, Warrington and Milton Keynes. The company’s development team has more than two million sq ft of industrial space under construction or ready for development. Its asset management team manages £220m of assets across more than 4.9m sq ft of commercial space in 355 units.
This year, the business will triple its completed developments compared with the previous year, delivering more than one million sq ft across 13 schemes compared to 340,000 sq ft in 2018.
Inverkeithing-based contractor Muir Construction is building the units having been awarded the construction contract following a competitive tendering process.