A joint venture between Land Securities Trillium and Mill Group has made it to the last two in the competition for Leeds council's £250m Building Schools for the Future programme.

The consortium is being advised by SMC Gower Architects, the local arm of architect SMC.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by SMC chairman Sir Rodney Walker at the company's first annual meeting since it floated on the alternative investment market in June last year.

The second consortium in the race to win the Leeds BSF programme has yet to be announced.

At the meeting, Walker said SMC had secured projects worth £1.4bn in construction value so far this year, bringing fees worth £16m to SMC.

The group has bought seven architecture and design firms in the past year, including Will Alsop's practice. Last month it bought Charter Consultant Architects, which brought in projects with a construction value of £800m.

Walker said: "The outlook for the remainder of the year is extremely encouraging on all fronts."