WORCESTER'S former MEB headquarters has officially begun a new life after conversion into 75 high-end apartments.

Work on the building in Blackpole Road, known as Bridgewater House, was completed during a unique ceremony by Birmingham-based contractor Colmore Tang Construction, which topped out four of its key construction sites across the West Midlands in one day.

Representatives from the company visited its office-to-residential conversion projects in Dudley, Worcester and Birmingham City Centre, as well as the newly-opened Park Regis Hotel in Birmingham and joined the Mayors of Worcester, Dudley and Birmingham, who marked the occasion with a ribbon cutting at their respective locations.

The four projects are the first sites to be completed by the three year old firm, which has grown rapidly since its inception to deliver over 2,000 new homes and a 253 bedroom four star hotel from existing buildings. Across the four sites Colmore Tang has created more than 1,000 jobs for construction professionals, recruiting local subcontractors to help deliver its projects and generate high-quality property in previously unused and empty offices.

Andy Robinson, managing director at Colmore Tang Construction, said: “We believe this is the first time that a contractor has topped out four sites in one day. We’ve been on a mad dash, sticking to a very strict schedule, visiting each site and celebrating with each of the Mayors and members of the Colmore Tang team. It is very rare that four projects would near completion all at the same time. These sites are very close to our hearts as they are the first major projects that we embarked on, not something to be entered into lightly. Our team has done a tremendous job in getting these four large developments completed on time and to budget. We are immensely proud and pleased that we could deliver such quality for our clients.”