Demolition firm to kick-off £18m Preston regeneration

VALE Park Demolition Services has been appointed to clear the site of an £18m regeneration project in the University Quarter of Preston.

The Manchester has moved on to the site in Friargate, which is being transformed by Portergate Developments into an ambitious mixed-use scheme, following the completion of archeological and ground safety surveys.

Vale Park will prepare the ground for the main contractor, Preston-based builder the Eric Wright Group, with a team of demolition experts using specialist equipment working on the site.

Contracts manager at Vale Park, Tom Perks, said: “At the moment we are operating inside the existing buildings on the site carrying out removal work and our specialist equipment will be on site shortly and then we will begin the overall site clearance.

“It is a big task, but it is something we specialise in and we have more than 20 years’ experience in this kind of work.”

Portergate’s redevelopment of the northern end of Friargate is the biggest building project currently underway in the city and is seen by city leaders to be spearheading the long-awaited regeneration of this key area of Preston.

The transformation of the strategic, but run-down 1.5 acre site will bring new retail premises onto Friargate and a 253-room building providing boutique hotel-style accommodation to students at the nearby University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).