Author Archives: Carolynne Craven

HENRY DAVIDSON SECURES £2m INVESTMENT

HENRY DAVIDSON SECURES £2m INVESTMENT

 Company to set up new headquarters in central Birmingham:-

  • Deal provides facility to invest equity in development opportunities
  • Investment from Finance Birmingham’s £56 million Regional Mezzanine Fund – open to all SMEs in the West Midlands

 

Midlands-based property development company Henry Davidson Developments (HDD) has secured a £2 million investment from Finance Birmingham on behalf of the GBS LEP.

The business, which is currently based in Nottingham, is now set to relocate its head office to Birmingham city centre to deliver a range of projects across the West Midlands including the £80 million Lichfield Friarsgate town centre development and the £30 million mixed-used Lawley Village in Telford. This new base will enable it to expand, increasing their capacity to bid for and deliver more projects across the UK.  Founded in 1992, HDD (www.hddl.co.uk) are an experienced developer specializing in residential and retail led mixed use developments. These range from stand-alone residential schemes, to convenience stores at the heart of new residential communities, or to larger schemes anchored by a food store that serves a wide catchment area. With unrivalled knowledge of local markets, its record of delivery is second to none. HDD have successfully completed well over 65 retail-led developments across the UK and are arguably the UKs largest developer of local and district centres. Together, these projects have delivered over 750,000 sq. ft. of retail space and more than 350 homes for local people, alongside numerous community and leisure facilities. The combined development value of projects exceeds £350m.

 

Scott Davidson, Chief Executive of HDD, said: “We’re currently working on a number of exciting schemes across the UK and the investment from Finance Birmingham will help us to leverage the success of previous and current projects, helping the business to expand and ultimately accelerating our growth. We are close to securing premises in Central Birmingham and are looking forward to pursuing the next stage of growth from a Birmingham base”.

The funding has been provided by Finance Birmingham’s Regional Mezzanine Fund, open to any business across the West Midlands region, supported by the Regional Growth Fund on behalf of the GBS LEP.

 

Graham Mold, Investment Director at Finance Birmingham, said: “One of the objectives of Finance Birmingham’s Mezzanine Fund is to help provide liquidity to property development companies to accelerate their growth and this is exactly what we have done with HDD. Scott and the rest of the team at HDD have a fantastic track record and we are delighted to help them seize the many opportunities that they are seeing in a buoyant market”.

HDD Acquires 2 New Sites

Terms agreed for two new Development Sites in Southern England

 

HDD have agreed terms for the acquisition of two new sites, in both cases, forming part of major new residential schemes.

 

The sites, one in Kent, the other in Oxfordshire, have the benefit of outline planning and will be developed for a mix of retail, leisure and other uses. Occupier interest in both sites is strong and it is anticipated that works will start on site in mid –2018.

Didcot District Centre

Works have commenced for the District Centre at Didcot in Q4 2016, completion of the development is due Q3 2017.

 

The scheme has a development value of £14m.

Newton Leys

Development of the District Centre started on site November 2016 and the scheme is due to complete Q2 2017.

Ashford

 

HDD in association with property regeneration company U+I will develop the six-acre Victoria Way site located opposite Ashford International train station.

The scheme will consist of an 18,500 sq ft Aldi supermarket with 93 parking spaces, creating more than 60 jobs. Chapel Down will open a brewery to expand sales of its Curious Brew brand together with a visitor centre including a shop, restaurant and bar.

Plans also include 200 built-to-rent apartments, made up of 48 studio flats, 52 one-bedroom homes and 100 two-bedroom apartments. There will also be a separate block of 16 flats to be built above three retail units.

The development is expected to provide £50m worth of economic growth to Ashford over the next ten years, with £3.8m additional revenue spent by residents in the town each year.

Meanwhile, an application by U+I for a 125-bedroom hotel on the same site will be considered by Ashford Borough Council’s planning committee in November.