Based in Liverpool, Downing Construction is a division of property and investment group, Downing, and has won the contract for schemes in London and Manchester. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool-based Downing Construction has secured contracts on two major development schemes worth a total of more than £140m.

Downing Construction is a division of property and investment group, Downing, founded by Merseyside-born entrepreneur George Downing and has been appointed on the schemes, which are both student accommodation projects, in London and Manchester.

In London, Downing has secured a contract worth more than £90m to build a mixed-use student development at Miles Street in London’s Vauxhall.

The scheme incorporates 841 student bedrooms within a 36-storey building alongside 40,000 sq ft of commercial space.

The company has also been appointed to deliver a contract worth more than £50m, to build the River Street student development in Manchester. Located between River Street and Garwood Street, next to the Mancunian Way, the high-profile site will house a vaulted building of 32, 10, and five storeys.

The building will comprise 791 student bedrooms and include a mix of studios, cluster bedrooms and apartments. 

The new deals will push  Downing Construction’s turnover above £100m for the first time and managing director Ian Orton said: “This current round of contract wins will take our workflow through into 2021 on secured contracts.

“We’ve established a core team that has grown in recent years in anticipation of this expected growth, and we continue to actively recruit at all levels.”

Alongside its most recent wins, the business is on site delivering major schemes across the country, including a £37m mixed-use student accommodation development at Holbrook House in London, and Leeds Beckett University’s new £80m Creative Arts Building.

Downing Construction has also started on-site at Phase Two of the City Village development, after winning a £38m contract to construct the 385 bedroom student accommodation development along with 100 residential rental units.