Wokingham Borough Council has confirmed the firm won the design and build contract with a bid of £12.86m against rival Brymor Contractors.

The Peach Place project represents the first main phase of the town centre regeneration and will get under on 9 January when the borough council will formally handover the site to Dawnus.

This phase will see a new pedestrianised public square created on the site of the existing Rose Street car park, a range of new shops and restaurants with apartments above, new public toilets and four new houses fronting onto Rose Street.

Main building works are expected to be completed by October 2018 with many of the new businesses up and trading for Christmas that year.

A second element of the regeneration plan to deliver a mix of buildings to regenerate Elms Field in the town centre is due out to tender soon.

This includes plans for 126 homes and the 95-bed hotel on parkland that got the go ahead earlier this year. The council is now preparing to launch a two-stage invitation to tender for the construction works worth around £25m.

Work is expected to begin by April next year. It is due for completion in by mid-2019.