Contracts for Gwent-based schemes won by construction, infrastructure and design company Morgan Sindall and developments by affordable housing, regeneration and maintenance specialist Lovell, have contributed to the half year results released by its parent company Morgan Sindall Group plc, the construction and regeneration group.

Morgan Sindall Group, which operates through five divisions of construction and infrastructure, fit out, affordable housing, urban regeneration and investments, has delivered half year results in line with expectations for the six months ending June 30, 2014.

In South Wales, Morgan Sindall has won an £11.5m contract to complete the transformation of the disused St Ilan School site, off Pontygwindy Road in Caerphilly, into a new Welsh language, three to 18 school for Caerphilly County Borough Council.

The company has also won a £3.2mn contract to build Raglan Primary School. The project, which is for Monmouthshire County Council, is already under way and will see the project team construct a new school that will include state-of-the-art classrooms and a school hall, with space for 210 pupils, ready for a new intake of students from September 2015.

The firm has completed the new £5m livestock market at Bryngwyn, near Raglan. The livestock market, constructed on a 27-acre site, holds 300 sheep pens, 150 cattle pens and a new auction ring. The building features a steel frame with timber-cladding and includes a lorry and car park, offices and a café.

In addition, the firm has completed, in joint venture, the £5.2m upgrade of the Energlyn and Churchill Park Station near Caerphilly.

Graham Shennan, managing director of Morgan Sindall, said: “Despite the challenging market conditions persisting into 2014, we have maintained our ability to secure important contracts and framework wins across the broad range of sectors in which we operate. Our commitment to operating safely and sustainably continues to drive our business forward, as does our desire to constantly deliver exceptional service to our customers, and we do this through our talented employees working seamlessly with our supply chain and joint venture partners to provide a fully integrated service on our projects. We remain well positioned to capitalise on further opportunities throughout the remainder of the year.”

Key housing projects for Lovell in South Wales include: A £7.3m contract for the first phase of the Loftus Garden Village development in Newport. Lovell began building 58 affordable homes for the Seren Group at the former Pirelli Cables site at Lliswerry, Newport, in July; The Beeches Village, a £9.6m development of 82 homes – 22 homes for open market sale and 60 properties for rent and shared ownership – which Lovell is delivering with United Welsh Housing Association at the historic site of the former Caerphilly District Miners’ Hospital in Caerphilly; and a £3.3m scheme for Monmouthshire Housing Association to redevelop a Monmouth sheltered housing complex with 20 modern sheltered housing apartments and 12 houses for sale. Building work began in March Lovell managing director Stewart Davenport said: “The first half of 2014 has seen the confidence in the housing market continue. First-time buyers returned in greater numbers to the market supported by the Government’s Help to Buy initiative which has resulted in increased sales activity in all our regions.

This has enabled us to invest in new opportunities focused on mixed tenure projects developed in partnership with housing associations and local authorities."