Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council has selected Federated Hermes Limited as the successful development partner for the major redevelopment of Crompton Place, a prominent site in the historic heart of Bolton town centre in Greater Manchester. This follows a competitive flexible procurement procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, where the council sought a master developer to enter into a long-term Master Development Agreement (MDA)—essentially a contractual joint venture arrangement—to deliver a high-quality, residential-led mixed-use regeneration scheme on council-owned land (defined by a specific red line boundary outlined in the project's Information Memorandum). The scope includes responsibilities such as interim "meanwhile uses" for the site, phased delivery of the development, scheme design refinement, securing planning permissions, arranging funding, and handling other conditional elements to bring forward ambitious transformation of what the council describes as one of the largest single-ownership redevelopment opportunities in Bolton for years, with the council having de-risked aspects to attract capable partners; any future inclusion of additional council land or third-party sites would require separate agreements and is not assured.