North Tyneside Council has named Kier Property as its development partner to bring forward the regeneration of the former Swan Hunter shipyard.

The appointment follows a competitive tendering process and, under the contract, Kier Property will now deliver a master plan to transform the 34-acre site, secure occupiers for the high-tech industrial and office complex and build bespoke units over the next three years to meet the needs of individual occupiers.

The site will be marketed to advanced manufacturing companies specialising in the offshore industry, which will benefit from the easy access to the North Sea, a fully operational 300m quay, heavy-load lay down areas together with associated facilities and infrastructure.

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The site has been identified as 'strategically significant' in the ongoing regeneration of the north-east and North Tyneside Council has already been successful in securing £13.8m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Homes and Communities Agency and the Local Enterprise Partnership Growing Places Fund.

This will fund infrastructure improvements, which have already begun on the site to provide utilities, access improvements, quay edge improvements and dredging to allow for larger vessels to berth.

Kier Group chief executive Paul Sheffield said: "We're delighted to have been selected to regenerate this iconic site. It has great potential to breathe new life into the area by attracting high-tech businesses, inward investment and creating new jobs.

"The new development will be of particular interest to advanced manufacturing companies that specialise in off-shore activity due to the great location of the site and purpose-built high-spec units."

(CD/MH)