Go ahead for Aggreko build

09 Sep 2010

A contractor has been appointed to build Aggreko's new £20m international manufacturing and office facility, an important step forward in the mixed use development at Lomondgate on the edge of Dumbarton.

Morgan Sindall will start work on the Aggreko development this month. The facility, due for completion in 2012, is expected to create 110 new jobs and safeguard a further 120 in the Dumbarton area.

The new flagship plant will be used to design, develop and manufacture power generators and temperature control equipment which will be deployed around the world. Comprising of a 160,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and 25,000 sq ft of office and ancillary accommodation, it will be located on a 16 acre site just off the A82 at Lomondgate in Dunbartonshire.

Bruce Walker, Managing Director of Walker Group, which is developing the £100m mixed use Lomondgate development in partnership with Strathleven Regeneration Company, said: "This is a major step forward for the development and it is tremendous news that a world class company like Aggreko is pushing ahead with developing its Scottish manufacturing base at a time when there is so much doom and gloom surrounding the UK economy.

"Lomondgate is now becoming a hive of activity with the main contract about to start on the Aggreko facility and the Premier Inn and family pub/restaurant now within two to three months of completion. Overall the development has already generated over £90 million of value to the region's economy according to an independent economic impact assessment thanks in part to our other anchor tenant BBC Scotland which is producing world class drama from the site."

Whitbread's £4.1m, 60-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and family pub/restaurant is expected to open for business in time for Christmas, creating 50 full and part time jobs.

Building work on more than 300 homes is also likely start in late Autumn, subject to detailed planning permission being granted. Persimmon Homes hopes to build 120 properties on an 8.5 acre site while Redrow will acquire 11 acres with plans to build 94 family homes on the site which is set in one of the most scenic parts of the world.

Walker Group has already plans approved to develop 109 new homes, including two, three, four and five bedroom houses on an 11.5 acre site and it is anticipated that this phase will also commence later this year.

Source: Scottish Property Network