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Housebuilder Campion Homes is to accelerate its building programme, following a multi-million pound investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF).

The Fife-based company said it planned to build 700 new private, residential and affordable homes over five years.

Campion has built more than 1,500 homes in Fife, the Lothians, Perth & Kinross and Clackmannanshire since 1989.

BGF provides growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses.

It is backed by five of the UK's main banking groups - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered.

'Strong pipeline'

Campion chairman and managing director Pete Bell said: "There has been significant demand for our recent developments and our pipeline is strong.

"We have chosen to take on a funding partner in order to accelerate our growth opportunities.

"This investment will allow us to meet the increasing demand quickly without compromising our quality and delivery.

"We explored other funding options but BGF is considered by us to be the right fit for our business. BGF is a flexible, long-term and non-controlling funding partner."

BGF's Patrick Graham, who has joined the Campion board as a non-executive director, said: "Our funding is unlocking a clear growth opportunity, underpinned by a quality land bank in a strong market and a management team that has significant experience in housing development."