BDC Magazine - Online version December 2015 Issue - 216 | Page 12
news.qxp_feature 2 23/10/2015 13:50 Page 10
UPDATE
Maven Capital Partners commits £5.5m investment
for office refurbishment in Thames Valley
Maven Capital Partners, the leading UK private equity and property manager, is pleased to announce
that it has completed the purchase
of a 20,000 ft2 office building in
Maidenhead. It is due to undertake
a complete £5.5m refurbi shment
of the property which will result
in a Grade A modern corporate
HQ for the thriving Thames Valley
market, which is seeing increasing
demand from blue-chip companies
for highly specified office space.
Located in Vanwall Business Park,
the site is only around 30 miles
from central London, with excellent transport links to the city. It is
ideally positioned for motorway
and air travel, being in close proximity to the M40 and M4 motorways and Heathrow Airport, and
will further benefit from the introduction of Crossrail to
Maidenhead in the next few years.
This is the 11th acquisition for
Maven’s burgeoning UK property
business, and the second office
acquisition in the Thames Valley in
the past 18 months, following the
c. £4.8m purchase and redevelopment of Planar House (now
known as ‘Eclipse’) in Marlow in
2014.
The 27,000 ft2, two-storey Planar
House has since undergone a
multi-million pound ‘back to
frame’ modernisation, including
substantial external and internal
improvements, including the installation of new external cladding,
floor to ceiling glazing, new plant,
passenger lift and air conditioning,
new LED lighting and a new feature glass reception area. The
upgrade has resulted in a Grade A
EPC (Energy Performance
Certificate) rating.
There is a diminishing supply of
modern and attractive office space
in the Thames Valley market, which
has been enjoying consistent
growth since the financial crisis
began to ease, reflecting the
improving UK economy and
increasing business confidence. As
a result the market is seeing growing competition among tenants
and rising rental rates.
Maven has a fast growing, specialist
property investment and development business, with executives
based across the UK sourcing
attractive property opportunities
for investors. During the past
three years the team has deployed
approximately £40m of investor
funds, in transactions including the
development of four hotels and
three student accommodation
projects.
Andrew Whiteley, Investment
Director at Maven, who led the
Security
Excellence
The UK’s leading vacant property
and security specialist, VPS and
their sister company VPS Site
Security, have uniquely been shortlisted in two categories this year
for Security Excellence honours,
following on from their selection
for the British Construction
Industry Awards.
“We’re delighted to have won
through to the SecurityEx finals
twice over.” Says Anthony Owen,
Managing Director of VPS. “VPS
Site Security is shortlisted for
Security Project of the Year, for its
innovative design combining the
latest technologies with mobile
patrols to protect a Costain highways construction project in South
Wales.”
“VPS itself is in the Large Security
Installer category, with an entry
that included securing 51 CityLink
depots stretching from Aberdeen
to Southampton, all on New Year’s
Eve. I’m very proud that our staff’s
expertise and hard work continues
to gain recognition, and ensures
VPS remains the leader in the field
by a country mile. No other specialist in our sector has been
shortlisted once, let alone twice.”
In their seventeenth year, the
Security Excellence Awards have
consistently broken new ground in
highlighting the very best people,
projects and processes the UK’s
security sector has to offer. The
high calibre Judging Panel – including representatives from all areas of
security & fire, the world of academia and the policing sector – will
determine this year’s Winners, who
will be announced at the Awards
ceremony at the London Hilton on
Park Lane on November 25th.
10
deal, said: “We are delighted to
have sourced another high quality opportunity for our investors,
as our property investment business continues to build momentum across the UK. The Thames
Valley market is in rude health,
as the UK economy continues its
recovery, with a notable shortage of modern office space in
the area following a period of
very limited development of new
office space. The increased competition for high quality premises
is driving rising rental levels and
presenting attractive opportunities for investors with the development and investment expertise. Given the increasing focus by
businesses on finding a prime
location and achieving energy
efficiency, this project offers the
prospect of a strong investor
return”.