BRADFORD-BASED Stonehouse Projects has announced the formation of a multi-million pound joint venture with international investment group LSG Holdings with the aim of expanding its operations in the property development market.

A well established and family-run Yorkshire business employing 25 people, Stonehouse is active throughout the UK as a refurbishment contractor specialist and has been trading for 16 years under the guidance of Steve and Fleur Waugh.

LSG Holdings is a UK-based single family office active in direct investments across real estate, private equity and venture capital both in the UK and internationally. LSG has a history of backing successful SMEs and management teams in the Yorkshire region with previous investments in Lifterz (now exited) and The Progeny Group (current).

Following the completion of the deal, the Stonehouse team will be working alongside LSG’s MD Patrick Leoni Sceti to further strengthen the existing business and develop the group’s property investment and development arm. The Stonehouse brand will be retained going forward.

Steve Waugh said: “This is an exciting time for us all. Having worked with Patrick on many refurbishments during Progeny’s growth and also the hugely successful, award-winning development of the former birthplace of Joseph Rowntree, it was evident from the start that we had the same appetite for sourcing, developing and delivering exceptional projects.

"The timely coming together of LSG Holdings and their unrivalled financial know-how together with their experience in backing successful SME’s combined with the knowledge and expertise of the Stonehouse team has given us a winning formula."

"By pulling on multiple years of well-honed skills and proficiencies across the group we can offer something quite unique”.

Patrick said: “This joint venture strengthens LSG with an entrepreneurial founder backed by a strong team with a proven track record and a deep understanding of the refurbishment market. Financial know-how and the resources necessary to deploy this skill set on owned investment property is a formula that is an exciting blend of our collective knowledge and expertise. Having been clients of Stonehouse for a number of years we are very excited at the opportunity of taking this partnership to the next level..

A team led by Alistair Scott-Somers of Progeny Law and Tax and the Leeds office of Murray Harcourt led by Mark Hunter advised LSG on the investment. Susan Clark of LCF Law, Kate Naylor and Joel Topham of Sagar’s Accountants advised Stonehouse.