As 2026 begins, we look forward to building upon a hugely important and successful year for ION Developments in 2025.

With significant progress achieved on transformational regeneration projects across the UK, our team is certainly busy, either working from our office in the splendid Port of Liverpool Building, visiting project sites in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Wirral, attending industry dinners, and even flying the UK flag at MIPIM in Cannes.

Working closely with Wirral Council and with support from Homes England and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, we are making strides towards the creation of a major new neighbourhood in the Hind Street area of Birkenhead. The scheme will ultimately see derelict land become a new community of more than 1,500 new homes, a new park, improved transport links, commercial space and leisure facilities, plus new roads, active travel links, the start of the Dock Branch Park project, and eventual removal of adjacent flyovers.

In October 2025, we announced the development will be known as Borough Yard, a name chosen to reflect the site’s heritage as a former railway sidings and gas works around the Borough Road gateway. 

With our partners VINCI UK Developments, we have been supporting Derby City Council to finalise plans to redevelop Derby’s Market Place, including the former Assembly Rooms site. 

The next stage of public consultation began in November and this will feed into an outline planning application due to be submitted in early 2026. It follows an earlier round of engagement on DerbyMADE, the proposed cultural hub for the area. The newly revealed proposals for the site include DerbyWORKS, the creation of high-quality Grade A office space and DerbyHOTEL, a new full-service four-star hotel.

In Coventry, we are working with Coventry University to bring forward substantial redevelopment plans which could create a hotel, shops and hundreds of new homes in a high-profile site in the city centre, delivering community benefits, new jobs and a significant economic boost to the city.

The site of the former Civic Centre, which sits opposite the Council House and was most recently the Assembly Festival Gardens, will have new life breathed into it after the university selected ION Developments and VINCI UK Developments and ION Developments as preferred developers for the scheme in May 2025.  The vision for the multi-million-pound transformation includes community related projects linked to other public services, alongside high-quality residential property, hotels and retail use, linked together by exceptional public spaces.

We were delighted to be chosen by Cheshire West and Chester Council, alongside VINCI UK Developments Ltd, as preferred developer partner for two separate schemes in Chester and Northwich.  

In Chester, together we are the preferred developer partner for Chester Northgate Future Phases. The next phase of development aims to create a new flagship residential community of more than 400 new homes in Chester, re-purposing existing buildings where possible and demolishing any buildings at the end of their life to open up a forgotten quarter of the city centre making it easy to navigate around the area. In their place, will be modern, affordable and sustainable homes, with public spaces and supporting infrastructure.

The Weaver Square regeneration scheme in Northwich town centre will create a new flagship residential community of more than 100 homes in the town. This will replace empty shops and buildings built mostly in the 1960s which are no longer fit for purpose. In their place will be modern, affordable and sustainable town centre homes, with public spaces and supporting infrastructure.

The Eastgate regeneration scheme in Stafford town centre also continues to move forward. Working on behalf of Staffordshire County Council,which will repurpose and redevelop surplus buildings and land and could create around £30 million of private investment, includes buildings in Tipping Street, Martin Street and land formerly occupied by the town’s magistrates court. It aims to attract new residents, businesses and visitors, helping to establish Stafford as a leading UK county town.

Outline proposals for mixed-use residential, commercial and leisure development were shared at a public consultation event in late November. This could include new and enhanced public realm and green spaces at St Chad’s Place and off South Walls – creating an engaging corridor to connect the River Sow with the Market Square and high street.

To crown an excellent year in 2025, we received two major industry awards. In March, our plans with BDP for Hind Street were awarded The Pineapple Award for Place, with judges commending proposals for new homes and a school at an appropriate scale and “breaking the stranglehold of the existing flyovers, which could change the profile of the whole neighbourhood, with repercussions that will be felt far and wide.” 

Then, in October, the same project won the Future Ambition category at Insider’s Liverpool City Region Property Awards.  Both prizes were judged by a panel of industry experts and it’s always humbling to get such support and endorsement from our peers.

So, what exciting times lay ahead with our excellent colleagues, partners and clients and we look forward to sharing in even more success in 2026.