We are pleased to announce that the UK division of VINCI Construction has acquired ION Property Group and plans to merge VINCI UK Developments to create one development business focused on the Local Authority urban regeneration market.

Operating under the brand of ION Developments, the merged business will be headquartered at the Port of Liverpool Building. 

VINCI UK Developments and ION are already working jointly on a number of projects, including major urban regeneration schemes in Derby city centre (pictured), Chester Northgate 2, the Coventry Civic Centre site and Northwich Weaver Square. This agreement will cement that relationship. 

ION’s existing development portfolio including Borough Yard, Birkenhead, Stafford town centre and Westgate Wakefield will also be delivered by the newly combined entity. 

The merged business has ambitions for significant future growth and will be led by a senior team comprising Steve Parry – Managing Director, Rob Mason – Commercial Director (both former ION directors) and Ian Hudson – Finance Director, who led the finance team at VINCI UK Developments. 

VINCI’s acquisition marks a defining moment for ION, which has been privately owned and operated for 36 years, and will see the departure of outgoing shareholders and non-executive directors Peter Hynd and Gavin Douglas.

Steve Parry said:

“At a time when local authorities and other public bodies across the UK are exploring new solutions for urban regeneration and the use of their land assets, this is the ideal moment to bring together these two specialist businesses to create a single regeneration developer which has the vision, experience and resources to bring projects of all sizes to life. We already have a strong forward pipeline and the new structure will only enhance our capacity to deliver these and other future projects.” 

Peter Hynd said:

“ION has delivered many transformational regeneration schemes that have had a positive impact on our towns, cities and communities by delivering high quality urban buildings that have created a sense of place.  Many of these projects were regarded as ‘too difficult’, but we have delivered consistently, working closely with our public sector partners. This deal with VINCI stands as testament to our legacy of success and we are proud to be leaving the business in such a strong position, with an incredibly bright future ahead and we wish the hard-working ION team every success in the future.”

Scott Wardrop, chief executive of VINCI Construction in the UK, said:

“We are delighted to confirm this agreement, which will see the creation of a consolidated development business, that can harness even more of our collective strengths and support greater numbers of local authorities and other clients to make a long-lasting, positive change to their communities across future generations.”

CAPTION – A CGI of the Derby city centre project