West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Cityheart have finalised a development agreement to transform Northampton’s Four Waterside and Marefair sites. The £130+ million project will redevelop a long-vacant brownfield area near Northampton Railway Station into a mixed-use hub.

Plans include grade A office space, a hotel, residential units with an extra care facility, and upgraded public spaces. Site preparation is scheduled to begin in autumn 2025 following planning approvals. Public consultations on the broader development will take place in summer 2025.

The project is backed by £1.5 million from The Towns Fund and £7 million from the Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone. WNC has secured £24.9 million for wider town centre regeneration, with additional developments already underway.

Commercial property consultancy Sanderson Weatherall has acquired Clark Weightman, a firm of Chartered Surveyors and commercial property consultants based in the Humber region. The deal strengthens Sanderson Weatherall’s presence in Humber, East Yorkshire, and northern Lincolnshire, including key port locations such as Hull and Grimsby.

Clark Weightman brings over 25 years of experience in the regional property market, specialising in agency, business rates, property management, lease consultancy, valuation, healthcare, dispute resolution, and public sector consultancy. The firm’s directors—Andrew Clark, Simon Weightman, and Carl Bradley—will join Sanderson Weatherall as partners, with all staff remaining in their current roles.

Sanderson Weatherall, a certified B Corp, cites economies of scale and regulatory compliance as key factors in the acquisition. Clark Weightman will continue operating under its existing name as part of Sanderson Weatherall, marking the firm’s 11th UK office.

Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, has launched a new drive to help attract more women into the region’s construction industry, which faces a shortfall of more than 17,000 people by 2028. The Mayor highlighted the challenge ahead of International Women’ Day on Saturday 8 March, the annual celebration of the contribution women make to the world around us and a rallying cry for gender equality. The launch was made at an event co-hosted by Nottingham College at the brand new £4.5m Construction Skills Centre at its Basford campus. This year, International Women’s Day has a theme of ‘Accelerating Action’, and Mayor Claire says the need to bring more women into construction is an urgent example of where progress still needs to be made. Alongside Nottingham College CEO and Principal Janet Smith, the Mayor welcomed female leaders from regional construction employers and senior women in education and skills. They saw first-hand the work being done at the college to bring more women into the construction industry and chatted to a group of female students. Mayor Claire used the event to announce that the East Midlands Combined County Authority’s Careers Hub will fund Future Makers, a new initiative connecting young people with businesses, offering hands-on industry experience and guidance to help them explore career pathways. She said: “Encouraging and enabling more women to aim high in life isn’t just the right thing to do, there’s clear evidence it’s vital to the future of our economy. “The forecast skills shortage in construction will not be solved if it remains a male dominated environment. That isn’t just bad for gender equality, it risks holding back ambition and restricting our ability to build and grow. “I’m therefore proud to announce our commitment to the Future Makers project so we can play an active role in breaking down barriers for young women entering construction, offering them the support, confidence, and connections they need to succeed in a traditionally male-dominated industry. “It’s been inspiring to meet and talk with students here at Nottingham College, to see them in action and to understand their passion for progress. In construction and other industries, we need to open up opportunities and encourage women and girls to believe that anything is possible.” Nottingham College CEO and Principal Janet Smith added: “The construction sector in the East Midlands is booming, to the point where we have almost struggled to keep up with demand for skills training. “The new Construction Skills Centre at our Basford campus is part of the answer to this challenge. We have invested heavily in state-of-the-art facilities which combine hands-on skills development with fully digitised classrooms. “While the numbers of women in the industry remains comparatively small, we’re seeing rising demand from female applicants for our courses, not just in traditional trades but in new areas of the industry where there is increasing momentum, such as photo-voltaics, heat pumps and other green skills.”