Member Article

Preston-based Eric Wright Group to grow property portfolio following £5m funding

Preston-based construction firm Eric Wright Group Ltd will target new land acquisitions and property development opportunities following £5 million in funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial.

The firm’s civil engineering division has enjoyed strong growth, with turnover up 11.5% year-on-year to £29m at the end of 2013, while its residential division saw turnover double over the same time period. Turnover for the group’s construction division – its largest division by revenue – held steady at £101m for the year to December 2013.

The Eric Wright Group, whose turnover was £153 million as at the end of 2013, will use the funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial to support the acquisition of new landbanks for development, help expand its fast-growing residential property unit, and also help capitalise on opportunities in the public sector, including from the NHS.

Dean Gormley, banking & finance partner at the Manchester office of law firm Irwin Mitchell advised Santander

Group Managing Director, Eric Wright Group Ltd, Jeremy Hartley, said: “Having restricted capital expenditure through the economic downturn, we are now in a position to consider expanding and this new facility provides the group with the appropriate financial infrastructure on which to undertake such growth. “Whilst our focus will remain the North West we will also look for suitable opportunities across the wider region if they arise.”

Relationship Director, Real Estate Team, Santander Corporate & Commercial, Matt Jones, said: “We’re delighted to be able to support such a prestigious and well-run company which, in our view, is set for a period of strong growth.

“We have delivered a suitable funding package fine-tuned to the needs of the business and I’m wholly confident that the Eric Wright Group will continue to grow and be highly successful.”

Amongst other projects, in January this year the group’s subsidiary, Maple Grove Developments,sold a 326-student housing development in York to McLaren Property and Eric Wright Construction was given the green light to build Cumbria County Council’s new headquarters.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .