Two Nottingham-based companies investing a total of £79m to date in the construction of state-of-the-art facilities for the NHS and local authorities across Nottinghamshire, have jointly appointed a new chief executive.

Lee Clayton heads up the two public private partnerships, Greater Nottingham Local Improvement Finance Trust Company (LIFTCo) and North Nottinghamshire LIFTCo, in a newly created role. It follows the companies’ recent consolidation of the management structures, reflecting the recent re-structuring of several of their key clients, the primary care trusts in the area.

He is responsible for overseeing the companies’ 25-year modernisation programmes of building and maintaining new public sector buildings, replacing outdated medical centres and council buildings in the heart of the communities that need them most. He joins the LIFT companies over a year after they were established and following the opening of three state-of-the-art joint access centres. A further nine are under construction across the county.

Lee’s career in the construction industry spans 20 years, specialising in urban regeneration. He was general manager at Sandwell LIFT Company in the West Midlands for 13 months and spent 17 years at Wrekin Construction, with four as the North regional manager. His track record includes working on the Spinning Fields development in Manchester, one of the biggest urban regeneration schemes in Europe; the Rochdale Canal; the North Shore development for Tees Valley Regeneration Company; Barkers Pool in Sheffield; the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Greater Williamson Square for Liverpool Vision, the city’s regeneration company.

Lee says: “My appointment as chief executive of the two Nottinghamshire LIFT companies shows the long term commitment of the businesses to continue to invest in high quality infrastructure for the delivery of public sector services which will benefit local residents for generations to come. It also gives me the opportunity to share my expertise in urban regeneration.”

Lee was recruited by the LIFT companies’ private sector partner Primary Plus, a joint venture company established by Bank of Scotland and John Laing plc.