In 2010 the budget hotel sector was growing three times faster than the overall hotel market. With significant undersupply, particularly acute in London we teamed up with the Tune Hotel brand in a joint venture with Queensway.

We built the portfolio to four trading hotels and three development sites, providing a combined total of 617 rooms. The concept was based on providing a high-quality bed and shower, in 10 sq m rooms, at a very affordable price. Like low-cost airlines, the marketing model was internet-driven with dynamic pricing.

The stabilised hotels achieved very high occupancy levels giving the purchaser, the Wellcome Trust, confidence in future growth potential. The sales proceeds of £104m, generated a 29% IRR and a multiple of 1.9x.