News from Julian Hodge Bank
New buildings take shape as three projects get underway
Bristol-based Iesis Ltd is acting as project manager in the redevelopment of three sites to provide apartment accommodation in Bristol and Bath, all funded by Cardiff-based Julian Hodge Bank.
In Bristol, the company is managing the conversion of a derelict property into nine student apartments in Jacobs Wells Road. Retaining its original façade, the new building will be constructed over five storeys and the scheme will be completed by July 2013.
In Bath, Iesis has two schemes in progress. It is constructing a new, two-storey building on a cleared site alongside the Kennet and Avon canal. This should be completed by September and will incorporate five apartments and a restaurant fronting Widcombe High Street.
In Piccadilly Place, Iesis is creating eleven apartments over three storeys on the site of a now-demolished garage. All apartments have already been let off-plan.
Bank to fund south coast development
Work has started on the construction of a new 140-bedroom ibis hotel in Queens Road, Brighton, close to the central railway station.
The ten-storey hotel will transform the quarter-acre site, which was once used as a casino and has lain derelict for a number of years. All existing buildings will be demolished.
The development is being undertaken by Hodge Investments (Brighton) Limited and funded by Julian Hodge Bank. When complete in the summer of 2013 the value of the finished scheme is expected to be around £11.5 million.
The hotel will be operated by Accor, the world's leading hotel operator with 4,400 hotels in 90 countries, including 900 that trade under the ibis brand.
New site in Dunstable comes to market
Julian Hodge Bank, which has specialised in funding the commercial property sector for many years, is bringing to market a 2.5 acre site in Dunstable.
Fronting the A5, Gateway Dunstable has been earmarked as a mixed-use development, with detailed planning consent for high specification two and three-storey design and build offices.
In a bid to inject impetus into the market, Julian Hodge Bank is providing competitive funding options and a design team geared up to interpret and meet specific client expectations.
Offices will be offered up to 40,000 sq ft on a freehold or leasehold basis, with planning consent already in place for a 70-bed specialised care home and 64 houses.
Julian Hodge Bank funds hotel number three
Work is now well underway on an eye-catching new hotel in Dunstable that, when finished in the summer, will create some 50 new permanent jobs.
Funded by Julian Hodge Bank, the £6.5m Holiday Inn Express will have 120 bedrooms and will primarily serve the business and leisure-break markets.
Contractor Vinci Construction UK Ltd is building the four-storey hotel on the A5 site of the former BTR rubber factory. Around 60 people are being employed during construction to create a bright new focal point for this south approach to Dunstable.
Economics professor returns for Julian Hodge Bank annual lecture
Professor Nicholas Crafts, pictured, will be the guest speaker at the Julian Hodge Institute of Applied Macroeconomics annual lecture in April.
Professor Crafts, 62, has been professor of economics and economic history at Warwick University since 2005 – the year he last addressed the Institute.
Before joining Warwick, he was professor of economic history and the London School of Economics and his career has also taken him to Oxford, Berkeley and Stanford universities.
Professor Crafts has written extensively on many aspects of the UK economy and European economic growth and has produced substantial research papers for academic journals, the UK government and the IMF.
The Julian Hodge Institute of Applied Macroeconomics was established in 1999, in conjunction with the Cardiff Business School, to carry out research into the UK economy and its relationship with other European economies.
Its director since then has been Professor Patrick Minford, who is also the economic adviser to Julian Hodge Bank. Some 200 guests from the regional business and banking communities attend the lecture each year.
Keith James chosen as new chairman at Julian Hodge Bank
Keith James, pictured, has been appointed chairman of Julian Hodge Bank, succeeding John Mitchell.
Mr James has been a director of the Cardiff bank since 2002 and takes the chairmanship at a time when banks have never been under more scrutiny.
Despite this, he believes Julian Hodge Bank has an exciting future with the board having recently agreed a new strategy that builds on the aspects of financial services it knows best - lending against commercial property and providing retirement products.
"We have decided to concentrate on the commercial mortgage business and investment funding, avoiding speculative development that has been the cause of much heartache across the UK banking sector," said Mr James.