Henry Boot Developments set for first rebrand

Henry Boot's executive board: L-R is Wayne Wearing, Hamer Boot, Vivienne Clements, Ed Hutchinson and Adam Brady

The Sheffield-based firm will now be called HBD and there are plans to increase the £1.6bn pipeline over the next three to five years.

The firm also unveiled the opening of a new Leeds office on January 1.

Ed Hutchinson, managing director of HBD, said: “I’m really excited about where we could get to. We’ve got some major schemes on the books now.

“We are all really keen to give it everything.”

HBD will still remain an important part of parent company Henry Boot.

”We are not distancing ourselves from Henry Boot,” said Mr Hutchinson.

“The rebrand is in order to reposition ourselves and make us look more current. Our people are first class. We will always be modest as a company, but perhaps we are guilty of being too understated.”

Mr Hutchinson pointed to some high profile developments that have helped raise HBD’s profile including TECA in Aberdeen, which hosted the BBC’s Sports Personality Of The Year earlier this month.

HBD sees huge opportunities arising in the Leeds City Region.

”For us that includes York, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Harrogate, Skipton, Bradford and obviously Leeds,” said Mr Hutchinson.

”The area has a lot of offer and we are desperate to do more there.

”We are pursuing two opportunities in Leeds. Leeds, as a city, has got a number of great universities and the number of graduates who decide to stay in the area is high.

”There is a huge millennial population, especially in Bradford.”

HBD also sees massive potential in the HS2 rail link.

“There are no two ways about it - HS2 is very important to Leeds and the Northern Powerhouse,” said Mr Hutchinson.

“It’s not about increasing the speed, it’s about increasing the capacity.

“We need high speed rail to link Manchester to Leeds. That would be a game changer as improving the overall connectivity of the region is really important.

“The challenge the Leeds City Region has is how to improve the connectivity. In contrast, Manchester has done incredibly well. It has an international airport and the light rail system is first class.”

He pointed out that Harrogate has the second largest conference centre in the UK, but it lacks the transport infrastructure.

”Organisations would see the Harrogate conference centre as a lot more attractive if it had the connectivity of Manchester,” he said.