Kevin McCabe’s Scarborough Group has secured the backing of a Chinese investor for £1.2bn of projects in the North of England.
Hualing Industry and Trade Group has agreed to back the £730m Middlewood Locks project in Salford, the £400m Thorpe Park project in Yorkshire and the £40m Sheffield Digital Campus.
Scarborough Group has already entered into a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Top Spring International Holdings and Singaporean Metro Holdings for £600m of projects, including the second phase of Middlewood Locks and Milliners Wharf in New Islington.
McCabe is also a co-owner of Sheffield United FC.
Middlewood Locks comprises 2,000 homes and 750,000 sq ft of commercial accommodation, with Thorpe Park covering a further 1.8m sq ft of mixed-use space.
Sheffield Digital Campus comprises a 130,000 sq ft of office space.
Chancellor George Osborne announced the deal as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative on a trip to Xinjiang in north-west China today.
Osborne said: “We are building an ever-closer relationship with China – it’s a partnership that is set to unleash growth and help regions like Xinjiang where we know investment can make a real difference, as well as unleash new growth back home, in places like our own Northern Powerhouse.”
McCabe said: “As a family business with its roots in the North of England, we are now very proud to bring our partners in China to the UK to invest in our great Northern Cities and to accelerate the development of our major projects in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
“Our partnership with the Hualing Group is a new and exciting one for Scarborough and we look forward to working with them over the coming years to bring our Northern projects to fruition.”
