Anne Martin becomes chief executive of Brighton Pier Group: Brighton Pier Group has appointed Anne Martin in a newly created role as chief executive officer of the company, with effect from the start of the new financial year, 26 June 2017. She joined the group board with the acquisition of Brighton Palace Pier on 27 April 2016, as Managing Director of the newly formed Pier division. In addition to the Pier, she has 25 years’ experience working at senior levels within the leisure and Hospitality sector, in a variety of high volume, customer focussed businesses. Whilst at Bourne Leisure, she was director in charge of Retail and Entertainment, a role that followed 12 years with Forte where she was responsible for the introduction of retail franchises to the Motorways Division, along with senior roles within the hotels division. Luke Johnson, Brighton Pier Group executive chairman, said: “Anne has brought a wealth of experience to the group. Under her leadership over the last 11 years The Brighton Palace Pier has grown year on year. As the group acquires more businesses, her unique experience will be invaluable in helping us to evaluate, acquire and manage these new assets. On behalf of the board we look forward to working together with Anne in her new role.”

Great Portland Estates buys hotel freehold and other sites for £49.6m: Great Portland Estates has acquired the freehold of land and buildings including Cityside and Challenger House, 40/42 Adler Street and 2/8 Whitechapel Road, London E1 from Hermes Investment Management, for £49.6 million (£320 per sq ft). The 1.1 acre site sits between Aldgate to the west and the new Whitechapel Crossrail Station to the east and is made up of; Cityside House – The freehold interest in a five-storey, 54,300 sq ft office building. The property is currently unoccupied and has planning consent for an additional three floors, taking the total net internal area to 76,500 sq ft, reflecting a capital value of £250 per sq ft. GPE expects to complete major refurbishment works during the second half of 2019, targeting average rents across the building of £47 per sq ft; Challenger House – The freehold interest in a five-storey hotel, leased to Qbic Hotels for a further 21 years at a rent of £1,400,000 p.a., with CPI linked five yearly reviews, capped and collared at 2% – 4% p.a.. The hotel trades from 171 bedrooms with a public restaurant; Development sites – Freehold land to the rear of Cityside House, part of which has a planning consent for 19,000 sq ft of development, comprising hotel and residential uses. GPE will seek to improve the existing consent to deliver more beneficial and value creating uses for the land including amenity space for the occupiers of Cityside House. Robin Matthews, Investment Director at GPE, said: “This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity for us to develop a well-designed, cost effective and prominent office building in the heart of Whitechapel, supported by a long-term income stream from Qbic Hotels, and further development sites. In addition, Whitechapel is set to benefit from significant further regeneration, including its new Crossrail station opening in late 2018.” Chris Taylor, head of Private Markets at Hermes Investment Management, said: “The sale of 40/42 Adler Street and 2/8 Whitechapel Road is an excellent result for the Fund. We are now able to redeploy capital into new acquisitions where we believe additional value can be added.”

Marston’s chief financial officer Andrew Andrea takes Portmeirion non-executive role: Andrew Andrea, chief financial and corporate development officer of Marston’s, has been appointed as a non-executive director of Portmeirion Group with effect from 20 June 2017. Portmeirion Group began trading on the Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) of the London Stock Exchange on 17 June 2004.