A MULTI-MILLION pound business deal will see 300 more flats and businesses built on the current Parkside site, the Evening Star can today revealAbout nine and a half acres of land has been sold to London-based developer Fairview Homes who will start work on the site in about two years.

A MULTI-MILLION pound business deal will see 300 more flats and businesses built on the current Parkside site, the Evening Star can today reveal.

About nine and a half acres of land has been sold to London-based developer Fairview Homes who will start work on the site in about two years.

Approximately 300 flats will be built on the area that will also consist of a commercial ground floor with 15,000 sqft of space for business use.

The deal is described as a "multi-million pound" one but no exact figure has yet been released.

Holden Timber, a company currently based in the Parkside area in Duke Street, has sold its current site that formed 1.5 acres of the land purchased by Fairview Homes.

Russell Holden, managing director of Holden Timber, feels the development will give a massive boost to the town.

He said: "It is excellent and puts Ipswich on the map. The town is growing very quickly. From when we started here to what there is now is unbelievable."

Holden Timber is a family business that was started by Mr Holden in 1992. The company has slowly expanded and will now move to a larger purpose-built two-acre building on the outskirts of town.

Holden currently employs 30 people and has a turnover of about three million pounds, but Mr Holden feels the sale of the site to Fairview Homes is a massive step forward for the business.

He said: "This news is absolutely fantastic. We are on premises that are too small and the buildings are a bit tired but we have funds to build what we need.

"From day one we have never struggled and this has given us the impetus to re-invest in a successful company.

"It is a huge achievement to have done what we have and the business is successful but this allows us to offer our customers a better service.

"It is phenomenally exciting times. If you ask what would I do if I won the lottery I would say I would purchase a new site.

"The last couple of years has been difficult. We were a successful little company but not able to expand as much as we wanted to."

A spokeswoman from CMS, a public relations company that deals with Fairview Homes, confirmed that 9.3 acres of land had been bought and "affordable housing and work units" are planned to be built.

However, the company has not yet gained planning consent so an application for planning permission will be submitted in the near future.

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