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Siglion celebrates official launch of new £100m Sunderland National Glass Centre

Siglion, the joint venture company spearheading a new £100m-plus transformation of Sunderland, was officially launched at an event which attracted over 120 people to the National Glass Centre on Thursday 23 April.

The joint venture company between Carillion and Sunderland City Council, for which Igloo Regeneration is providing development, asset and fund management, unveiled the first stages of its vision for the city.

Siglion aims to create new jobs and economic opportunities through regenerating key areas of the city and managing an investment portfolio of industrial, retail and office properties.

Siglion chief executive John Seager said: “I’m delighted so many people came along to help us celebrate the beginning of Siglion’s work to shape Sunderland’s future. It was an opportunity to share our excitement and commitment to long-term change with many local professionals, businesses, university and public sector guests.”

Janet Johnson, deputy chief executive of Sunderland City Council said: “This is an important milestone for our joint venture company, which will bring new life, new opportunities and new economic growth to the city in the coming years.

“The city council has recently been re-shaping the city centre through a successful regeneration scheme, including improving St Mary’s Way, developing the Crowtree site and creating the new Keel Square, which has created a new high quality place for people to enjoy, and brought forward further investment sites at this important gateway to the city.

“Now that Siglion is formally launched we will see the focused energy and commitment of the partnership building on our work to transform major sites, creating new economic activity and boosting business investment.”

The launch began and ended with a performance by Martin Longstaff of Sunderland band The Lake Poets, who first sang the ‘City by the Sea’ about Sunderland.

Speakers included Siglion board member and Leader of the City Council, Cllr Paul Watson, who welcomed guests to the city: Paul Callaghan, who chairs the Sunderland Economic Leadership Board, who examined the potential economic benefits of the Siglion programme from a business perspective: Igloo Regeneration chair, Chris Brown, who discussed Igloo’s approach to regeneration, and Siglion chair, Neil McMillan, who looked at the importance of strong partnerships and the private sector.

Neil McMillan, chair of Siglion and Carillion development director, said: “This event gave us the chance to show many private and public sector representatives how enthusiastic and committed we are to the future of Sunderland. The excellent relationship between the City council, Carillion and Igloo means we have a strong partnership which will bring about exceptional developments.”

John Seager added: “The launch gives us the chance to show that work is underway to transform the city for the benefit of local people and the regional economy. The event meant we could introduce the Siglion approach to potential private sector partners at the start of our journey towards creating better living, working and leisure spaces for communities across Sunderland.”

Siglion’s work will be concentrated on five major sites, starting with the former Vaux Breweries site close to the company’s headquarters in the Echo 24 building. The area has already been cleared ahead of infrastructure and building work beginning.

Other development sites are Seaburn, a 10 acre coastal site and Chapelgarth, a 112 acre site allocated for town housing in the City Council’s unitary development plan.

The local community will be involved throughout the process, with consultations held before any planning applications are submitted. At the heart of the programme is a sustainable redevelopment which will create new employment opportunities, strengthen the local economy and provide a permanent, positive impact on Sunderland and the wider region.

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