Building group Sisk is poised to start work on the opening phase of an 800-home, retail and leisure complex in south London after winning a £20 million (€24.5m) contract from the developer and local authorities that are backing the project.

The Irish construction and engineering group’s British subsidiary recently won the contract to build the first phase of Lewisham Gateway, a project that is designed to regenerate the London borough and which will require a total investment of £250 million.

Sisk has been hired to construct “building A”, which consists of two blocks of 25 and 15 storeys with 190 new homes and ground-floor shops and restaurants.

The deal won by Sisk is reported to be worth £20 million.

The company has already begun clearing the site, and construction work is due to get under way shortly.

Lewisham Gateway is billed as a collaboration between the borough's council, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London, developer Lewisham Gateway Developments and urban regeneration specialist Muse.