In 2001 we sourced a mixed-use portfolio and linked up with Ashtenne Holdings plc to acquire it. We then formed a joint venture around the principal asset, a 640 unit housing estate in Lakenheath Suffolk and a 14-acre derelict industrial site in Leeds.

The estate was leased to the United States Air Force and following three years of negotiation we agreed a new lease with them and immediately sold the property. We also sold seventy of the houses into the open market.

We secured planning permission for 120 residential units on the industrial site and consequently sold it in 2006.

The overall return for this project was a return on equity of 450% an IRR of 80%.

The success of this transaction was the catalyst for forming Squarestone.