Newton Aycliffe construction company Finley Structures has been awarded a multi-million pound deal in the building of a £650m shopping development in Leeds.
The family firm, which recently completed steelwork on Hitachi Rail Europe’s factory was handed a 2,300-tonne job to construct a major part of Victoria Gate, in Leeds city centre.
Victoria Gate is an exciting addition to the vibrant shopping scene in Leeds, and includes the Victoria Gate Arcade, currently being constructed by Finley Structures, with stores, restaurants, cafes and leisure space linking Victoria Quarter to the John Lewis store.
The development is expected to provide 1000 retail and hospitality jobs and 1000 construction jobs.
Finley Structures was awarded a 20-week contract from Sir Robert McAlpine’s Manchester office, to fabricate and erect 2,300 tonnes of steel, after being recommended for the job following the successful completion of Nissan’s new car plant in Washington.
Finley Structures operations manager Jim Graham said: “This is a very prestigious contract for us and we’re delighted to be doing this work for Sir Robert McAlpine on behalf of Hammerson.
“Retail is fairly new to us, but is an area we’ve been exploring for some time, and to get on to Hammerson’s supply chain is a major coup for the company.
“It’s another indication of how far Finley Structures has come in the last three-to-four years, with large-scale projects like this now becoming run-of-the-mill.”
McAlpine praised Finley Structures for its “exceptional” safety performance on the Victoria Gate contract and regional manager Simon Trevor said: “Not only are Finley Structures the only company to have scored a KPI for Health and Safety and over 80% during the month of February, but they are the first and only to have achieved this in our region within the last 12 months”.
Victoria Gate, formerly known as Harewood and Eastgate Quarters, is planned to open in late 2016.
