Construction work starts this month on the 3,500 capacity entertainment and events venue which  forms phase two of the £200m Becketwell regeneration scheme.

Work is scheduled for completion in January 2025 for developer St James Securities and Peveril Securities who are the development arm of Bowmer + Kirkland and the funding and development partners for future phases of the Becketwell scheme.

Phase one of the Becketwell development, which comprises 259 one and two-bedroom Build To Rent (BTR) apartments, is nearing completion alongside Springwell Square which will serve as a multi-purpose space within the development.

Paul Morris, Director of St James Securities said: “We are delighted to have concluded this agreement with Bowmer + Kirkland, a local company with a nationwide track record of working on award-winning projects for an extensive portfolio of developers, public sector clients and blue-chip companies across a broad range of sectors.

“In a very difficult inflationary climate where materials and labour costs have increased substantially, St James Securities has worked extremely hard with B+K through the design development and tendering stage to ensure the project would be delivered well within the fixed price contract with Derby City Council.

“I won’t pretend it’s been an easy process to get to this stage; however, I am very proud of the entire professional team involved in this project who have worked tirelessly to ensure that we’ve worked around the many challenges we faced along the way.

“There have been a few naysayers who have sought to publicly criticise us and suggest we would either throw the towel in or return to the Council seeking more money. This is simply not how we operate and once we agree a price, as we did with Derby City Council, then we stand by it.

“We have a wealth of experience in delivering complex, award-winning regeneration schemes and having the financial backing of Peveril Securities has further strengthened our ability to take on these challenges and win.

“The skill set of a dedicated and experienced team, such as the one we have pulled together for the performance venue, allows us to work in a way that central government or local authorities are not able.

“This is a great example of how the private and public sectors can work in partnership to deliver complex schemes at a fixed price with the private sector absorbing all the development and construction risks which in this project have been substantial.”