Business run by Coal Exchange owner goes into administration
ANOTHER Signature Living company run by the owner of Cardiff’s historic Coal Exchange building has fallen into administration.
The day after Signature Living Hotel Limited went into administration, Signature Living Residential Limited, the group’s residential development arm, also followed suit on April 16.
It means Signature Living Residential Limited, which is behind a prestigious residential development in Liverpool’s city centre and the Victoria Mill development in Manchester, is now in the hands of specialist advisory firm FRP.
It has already been reported that Signature Victoria Mill Limited went into administration on April 16, along with Bedford Hotel Limited and Signature Shankly Limited.
Signature Living Hotel Limited was the sole shareholder in Signature Living Coal Exchange Limited until March 20, 2020. According to Companies House information, the shareholdings in the Coal Exchange were transferred to a new company called UK Accommodation Group Limited on this date.
This company is also owned by Signature Living owner Lawrence Kenwright, together with his wife Katie Kenwright.
It means five Signature Living firms have now gone into administration this month, according to the London Gazette’s official public records.
According to FRP, both Signature Living Residential Limited – the firm behind the 60 Old Hall Street development – and Signature Victoria Mill Limited are special-purpose vehicles (SPV) assigned to individual property development projects.
Their purpose is the conversion of property to primarily residential use – and both are part of the wider Signature Living Group.
The administrators of the two latest firms – Steve Williams and Philip Armstrong of FRP – said they hope to finish the projects “as swiftly as possible”.
Mr Williams said: “60 Old Hall Street and Victoria Mill are two highly sought after, centrally located developments in Liverpool and Manchester.
“Our primary focus is to work closely with those involved in order to secure the funding that is needed to bring these projects to completion as swiftly as possible.”
Signature Living Residential Limited is the SPV behind the conversion of an office building at 60 Old Hall Street in Liverpool.
The development, once complete, will provide 123 apartments across nine floors. This includes a three-storey extension, together with commercial use on the ground and lower ground floors.
Signature Victoria Mill Limited is overseeing the part-conversion of Victoria Mill in Miles Platting, Manchester.
The grade two-listed former textile mill is a six-storey building, part of which has previously been converted into apartments.
The part owned by Signature Victoria Mill Limited is in the process of being converted into 85 apartments across floors one to five. The ground floor is currently occupied by various divisions of the NHS.
Following their appointment, the administrators are now working closely with the management team at the Signature Living Group and a team of specialist advisors to assess the status of both build projects.
FRP said they will now work out the cost to complete the developments, with a view to securing funding from the projects’ existing lenders to enable the completion of both projects “in due course”.