Investors in luxury hotel fear they will never see money again

INVESTORS in Cardiff’s luxury Exchange Hotel who claim they are owed thousands of pounds say they are starting to fear they will never see their money again.

One investor, from South Wales, said she has not been paid for nearly a year after investing £100,000 into Signature Living, the company behind the work to bring the old building back to life.

The 61-year-old charity director said the money was meant to fund her through retirement, but she is beginning to think her money “is in trouble”.

When she signed up to the scheme in August 2017 (it promised her an 8% return on her money) it seemed like a sure-fire way to make the most of a lump sum she received after her father had died.

She said:

“I did lots and lots of research, learnt about what they were doing with the building and checked out the plans. I did as much as I could in terms of due diligence. It seemed like a good investment. Plus, I really liked the idea about bringing old buildings back to life.”

Initially, she was paid £2,000 a month, which was paid quarterly, but the payments dried up after November 2018.

Liverpool-based Signature Living took on the old Coal Exchange building after Cardiff council deemed the building unsafe and invoked emergency powers to make it safe.

Signature Living used the Business Premises Renovation Allowance scheme to kickstart the massive £35m redevelopment project.

Investors, many from around the world, put their money forward in exchange for a “zone” of the property while the company kept control of the communal areas.

After three years, the company has an option to buy back control from their investors.

But the Welsh investor said she received a letter from Signature Living in April 2019 saying it had found a more favourable source of funds and the buy back would happen immediately.

The company recommended she use their solicitors to deal with this, despite the conflict of interest.

There has been little progress since. The investor, who wants to remain anonymous, said: “They [Signature Living] are still there but there is no progress and it just goes on and on.

“It’s getting scary now because this is our little bit of nest egg. I’m beginning to consider that we might never get it back.

“I’m thinking we really are in trouble here. We really need a new car but we can’t afford one without the money coming in.”

She is pinning her hopes on the letter she received from Signature Living, which stated: “We have now received funding to finish the build on the Coal Exchange, once the build is complete it will have a valuation of £45m and we will make all the buy backs.”

But she is unconvinced and said: “The building works have been really quiet and not a lot has changed for the last 12 months.”

A 45-year-old investor from Taiwan has also spoken to the Echo about how she is still waiting for her quarterly payments, having ploughed £94,000 into the company.

She, too, bought a unit from the Exchange Hotel in Cardiff, in August 2017.

She said: “Starting from the first payment, I had to chase them. Every time we had to chase them to get our payment. Then, starting from last year, I didn’t have any payment at all. I kept on chasing but I got nothing.”

In April, she received a letter from Signature Living stating it intended to buy back the unit and there would be no more payments, and she should instruct a solicitor.

“I think it was just their strategy,” she said. “They ask you to instruct a lawyer and then nothing happens – there is no payment and there are no updates.”

The businesswoman said she was attracted to the Exchange Hotel because of its history and had done all the background checks on the company before committing her money.

“I thought they were safe and trustworthy,” she added.