McAleer and Rushe has completed a flagship design and build office project for British Land at 10 Portman Square in the heart of London’s West End.

The top UK REIT has also awarded McAleer & Rushe, British Land’s 2013 Award for Exceptional Site Management for its “exceptional work on 10 Portman Square.”

The eight storey building, which includes retail units at ground and lower ground levels, was completed on time and on budget and is already 51% let and has been achieving record rents.

The handsome 10 Portman Square was designed by architects Jestico+Whiles, boasts column-free floorplates of 18,500 sq ft, a dramatic curved roof and large accessible terraces offering dramatic views across London. Situated on an island site and with floor to ceiling glazing, the building benefits from excellent natural light on all sides.

Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco Overseas is the most recent occupier to sign at 10 Portman Square, taking the fourth and fifth floors which represent circa 33,700 sq ft. The company will now commence fit-out. They join Aspect Capital, who will take 24,520 sq ft of office space on the top two floors of the building.

McAleer & Rushe construction director Martin Magee said:

“We are very proud to have delivered a superlative office development on time and on budget. It has been a great privilege working with British Land to deliver such an exemplar office scheme on a challenging central London site. It gives us great satisfaction to know it has already garnered considerable acclaim from property and architecture experts which is also being recognised in the rents achieved.”

Nigel Webb, Head of Development, British Land, said:

“This has been a fantastic team effort, and the building looks stunning. This is a new landmark building providing exceptional quality of accommodation. We are pleased with the level of pre-letting, with interest from occupiers remaining strong as companies seek grade A space in one of the West End’s prime business locations.”

McAleer & Rushe is pleased to announce that a key landmark in the construction of SOCO, a hotel and mixed-use development in Edinburgh it is building for Jansons Property was marked with a glittering topping out ceremony.

Situated on the west side of South Bridge on the south side of Cowgate the scheme is anchored by a 259-bedroom IBIS Hotel and a 4,708 sq ft Sainsburys Local and the La Belle Angele live music venue.

Eric Young & Co and Ryden are advising on the additional retail and leisure units still available to let.

Work on site was suspended and over 100 of the great and the good of Edinburgh attended the ceremony on the 9th floor, though many intrepid guests braved the breezy top floor to enjoy magnificent views from the roof.

Andy Jansons managing director of Jansons, told guests: “The SOCO complex will breathe new life into South Bridge and the Cowgate by attracting quality retailers.”

Project manager Shane McCullagh said:
“McAleer & Rushe are particularly proud to be associated with the construction of handsome development which is delivering such key economic regeneration to Edinburgh.”

Councillor Frank Ross, convener of Edinburgh’s economy committee, added:

“The regeneration of SOCO will bring to an end a ten-year period in which the site has blotted Edinburgh’s historic Old Town. I welcome the £35m investment and also welcome the job creation through the new retail and business units. With a new, centrally located hotel, I am confident it will further increase Edinburgh’s tourism offer in this part of the Capital.”

After the ceremony a reception was held at the Surgeon’s Hall along with wine and canapés guests were well entertained by comedian Fred MacAulay.

McAleer & Rushe is currently working on two other projects in Scotland, a 100-room Premier Inn in Aberdeen, and a 100-room hotel on Shetland for Glasgow-based BDL Management which will be occupied by oil and gas giant Total.

I signed up for the Cycle to Cannes, last year, because it sounded like a fun way of travelling down to Cannes for the annual MIPIM property conference. I am a rugby man not a cyclist so I submitted my entrance application with naive thoughts of general fitness carrying me along on a cycle through France.

“It is a property event after all,” I thought to myself. I imagined it would be relatively arduous cycling during the day followed by convivial dinners and good wine in the evening. It was only when I turned my attentions to Cycle to Cannes rider’s pack in the New Year that I started to appreciate the supreme challenge involved in this 6 day, 1,500 km cycling event, complete with pro-style rolling road closures, support vehicles and mechanics – a Sunday cycle, this was not!

Looking back, my strongest memory from the trip was the morning of the final day, when we knew we had survived the hardest stages. As the peloton began to climb the mountain range out of Aix en Provence, my great friend from Ballymore, James Brennan, and I began to sing. I don’t know how we managed it without collapsing with a lack of oxygen because for the next 30 minutes of climbing we sang every song in our rugby repertoire. When we reached the summit the group gave us a huge cheer. It was a wonderful moment to savour.

This is one of the great things about cycling; there is a tremendous sense of freedom and adventure. I love that feeling you get when you finish a day and you know you have suffered, but you feel that it was totally worth it. You’ve come out the other side feeling proud of yourself and what you’ve achieved. It is that little bit of pain and suffering that reminds you that you’re alive.

I took great personal satisfaction in being one of only 17 riders who managed to go all the way to Cannes.

There is no secret to my training regime: you need powerful legs and bags of stamina to cycle 1,500kms. I based my training regime around two simple philosophies, ‘intensity’ and ‘time in the saddle’. Each of the nine weekends from 1st January to 12th March was given over to intensive cycle training.

On one of my early training rides I learnt that general rugby fitness and a bit of grit wouldn’t be enough after I was dropped by the peloton and had to take an early train home. This provided a reality check that the only way to build the necessary strength was to spend time going up and down hills at the weekend. And that I had to use the early mornings before work for intense eyeballs out, heart-in-your-mouth stamina training.

By the time it came to start date, I knew there would be guys on the trip with better bikes and more experience. But few would have built up the same training momentum which in turn creates confidence.

The final ingredient is luck. For me, I was concerned that my knees wouldn’t hold up and that my old commuter bike would final give up on me. In the end they were both fine – not even so much as a puncture.

I have heard others’ observations of the rider camaraderie. This is undeniable. Perhaps it is because, like rowing, you must work as a team to really unlock the potential of the individual. Or perhaps it is because these shared experiences that take you to places you least expect and least wish to express.

My advice for what it is worth is if you are ever afforded the opportunity of a place on the Cycle to Cannes seize it and give it your all. I willingly and enjoyably dug deep into my cavalier eight-week preparation but there are other paths. Cycling is real, it has soul and I will be seeking forgiveness from my backside right up until I mount the saddle again on my next Cycle to Cannes campaign.

After a gruelling 1500km cycle from London to Cannes Ulsterman Angus Monteith from Cookstown-based developer and contractor McAleer & Rushe handed over the team baton to Mayor of London Boris Johnson at the international property show MIPIM held annually in Cannes.

Angus was sponsored by McAleer & Rushe and raised more than £3000 for UK children’s charity Coram. More than 80 property professionals set off from London but Angus was one of only an elite 17 people who completed every stage.

McAleer & Rushe property director Stephen Surphlis said:

“This cycle ride was a remarkable sporting achievement and a phenomenal feat of endurance by Angus and the company is very proud of his achievement.”

Mcaleer & Rushe development manager Angus Monteith said:

“The cycle to Cannes is a unique event where property professionals push themselves to their limits under the most intense conditions. Egos get left behind at the start-line and terrific friendships are forged over the six days in the saddle.”

“Thanks for the very generous donations from everybody at McAleer & Rushe.”

For more information please contact: Robert Gibson at MJ2 on 07748 182234

I’ve been to Shetland.

It was cold.

Not cold in the way you might be thinking; a sort of “woolly jumper and I’ll be fine” kind of cold.

Oh no. I mean a heart-stoppingly, bone-bitingly, brutal kind of cold.

And it was the withering prospect of facing the bared teeth of that weather that set the boffins at McAleer and Rushe rushing to their drawing boards last year.

They knew a unique approach was needed when they were asked to tender for a new hotel which, while still in the UK, would be closer to the Arctic Circle than it would be to Manchester.

The result? Well, it is one quite incredible project…. To read the full article please click the following link: Built in Northern Ireland, shipped to Shetland – a unique hotel

Reproduced with permission from BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
Article By Gordon Adair on 4 March 2013

The Belfast city centre home of Invest NI and two other public sector bodies has gone on sale with an asking price of £40m plus.

Bedford Street Developments Ltd has today announced that part of its portfolio at Bedford Square, Bedford Street, Belfast, is to be placed on the open market for sale.

The assets in question comprise the award winning headquarters of Invest Northern Ireland and the adjacent Linum Chambers building. Constructed in 2005 under a Public Private Partnership contract by McAleer & Rushe the assets consist of over 100,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation and secure basement car parking for 71 spaces. The bulk of the space is currently let on a long-term Project Agreement to Invest NI with the office accommodation within Linum Chambers also being let on long-term leases to the Public Prosecution Service and the Northern Ireland Law Commission. Any sale of the assets will have no impact on the ongoing business of any of the current tenants.

Commenting on the decision to sell, Stephen Surphlis of Bedford Street Developments Ltd said,

“This is part of our planned strategy aimed at exiting certain investment properties within our portfolio. Given the historically low level of return currently offered for government gilts and an active investor market seeking government income we believe there is an opportunity to capitalise on this institutional interest for PPP projects by virtue of the government backed nature of their return.” As a showcase example of a Public Private Partnership working successfully since November 2005, we anticipate achieving a price in excess of £40M.”

ASM Chartered accounts and Osborne King Commercial Property Advisors have been appointed to sell the property. Commenting on the sale, Robert Ditty of Osborne King said,

“The building has become a landmark building within Belfast’s central business district and is fully occupied by three public sector occupants. As such, we anticipate keen interest from institutional and overseas investors, which will be a positive step in terms of boosting the Northern Ireland economy.”

The Cookstown headquartered McAleer and Rushe Group consolidates the results for a wide range of subsidiary companies including several property companies and other construction and civil engineering businesses.

The group is one of the largest construction businesses in Northern Ireland which continues to win major contracts located outside Northern Ireland.

Despite the general recession affecting this sector, the trading results for the year to March 2012 show a further increase in business turnover to £111m, now exceeding the previous peak of £108m in 2009.

Although the operating and pre-tax profits have shown significant year to year variations, if exceptional or special items are excluded the overall trading position has generally been positive. Operational losses in 2010 were heavily influenced by a one-off extra cost of £7.3m. The net operating loss that year became a small operating profit in the year to March 2011.

In the most recent year a small operating loss of £0.2m has been recorded. Exceptional items, impairment provisions and profit on the disposal of assets all served to affect pre-tax profits in each of the last three years. Pre-tax profits in 2012 were helped by the inclusion of £1.1m gains from the disposal of property.

Pre-tax results also reflect the impact of net interest payments and, more recently, additions or deductions for exchange rate gains (or losses). Outstanding bank borrowing, at the end of the financial years, has fallen sharply from over £61m three years ago to under £22m in March 2012.

Reproduced with permission from The Belfast Telegraph (© belfasttelegraph.co.uk)

The construction arm of the McAleer & Rushe Group has announced a 23% increase in turnover to £108.6m and a 50% increase in pre-tax profits to £6.04m for the year to March 2012.

McAleer & Rushe Limited, a specialist Design & Build contractor with offices in London, Belfast and Cookstown, was set up in 1967. The Company focuses on mixed-use urban construction, specializing in the hotel and office sectors having completed in excess of 12,000 bedrooms for 14 national operators over more than 60 projects and 1.5m sq ft of office accommodation.

Recent highlights have included the handover of the newly built NOVOTEL and IBIS hotels on Blackfriars Road, London (Aug 2012) and the 630 bed flagship Premier Inn, North Terminal, Gatwick some eight weeks ahead of schedule in October 2012. Key current projects include a £46m office led mixed-use development joint venture with British Land in the West End of London due for completion in April 2013, and a boutique five star Hotel on the capital’s fashionable Old Street.

McAleer & Rushe looks forward to the continued expansion of its client base with several projects having gone on site during the current financial year including a hotel contract in Edinburgh and a number of large scale contracts being actively negotiated at present for site starts in early 2013.

Although McAleer & Rushe’s workload is now increasingly focused on mainland UK it retains a strong loyalty to Northern Irish architects, design consultants and sub-contractors and values their partnerships. Its own Northern Irish workforce has increased by 5% over the period.

Group Finance Director, James Higgins commented:

“Despite the continuing challenging market conditions we are pleased to be able to report improved trading performance. We look forward to maintaining our profitability in the current financial year to 31 March 2013 and beyond to March 2014, based on work already under contract. We believe our reputation for delivering the highest quality product, across a broad range of projects and clients, in an economic and timely manner, stands us in very good stead for the future.”

For more information please contact: Robert Gibson at MJ2 on 07748 182234

Premier Inn has opened its 50,000th room and opened its largest Premier Inn yet at Gatwick Airport built by McAleer & Rushe.

The £60m Premier Inn London Gatwick Airport was officially opened last week by Whitbread managing director Patrick Dempsey, and Employment Minister, Mark Hoban MP.

Patrick Dempsey, managing director at Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, said:

“Reaching 50,000 rooms across the portfolio is a great achievement that we are very pleased with. Our growth across Greater London is particularly exciting as it means we can offer even more people a great night’s sleep in the best locations and we look forward to opening many more over the next few years.”

McAleer & Rushe was there to share the celebrations as it was awarded the £29m contract to build the 630 bedroom hotel at Gatwick Airport for Arora Hotels’ development arm Grove Developments.

The 250,000 sq ft 630-bedroom hotel is right beside the drop off zone for the North terminal at Gatwick. Designed by Belfast-based Urban Innovations the Premier Inn has a bar and restaurant and Costa Coffee area on the entrance level, with the bedrooms located on nine levels above. Its layout is based on a ‘Doughnut’ form which is centred on an inner courtyard which provides an acoustic buffer zone from its busy surroundings. The hotel also boasts a four level car park beneath the hotel, together with a separate 400-space multi-deck car park.

McAleer & Rushe construction director Martin Magee said:

“This is our third project for Arora Hotels with whom we have established a very good rapport. They give us a very tight but clear brief to work to and we understand how important it is for each project to be delivered within budget and on time. This project was particularly significant to work on as it is the UK flagship for Premier Inn.”

Premier Inn is the UK’s biggest hotel chain and is the largest provider of budget hotels within the M25 area with aims to increase its number of rooms by 50% and double its size in London by 2016.

This international celebration acknowledges the passion and vision of the architects, designers and developers of Europe’s most recently completed and outstanding hotel projects.

BBC World News’ presenter, Mishal Husain hosted the ceremony which took place at the Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge London. Winning hotels included The Corinthia Hotel, Hotel Valentinerhof, with Superbude St Pauli in Hamburg stealing the show with three acclaimed awards.

Leading hotel contractor and developer McAleer & Rushe sponsored the award ‘Conversion Of An Existing Non-Hotel Building To Hotel Use’. It was won by The Mirror Hotel, Barcelona, Spain.
McAleer & Rushe business development director James Hicken, presented the award to the Mirror Hotel’s designer GCA Architects.

The high-level judging panel included chair of the judges Simon Ford of InterContinental Hotels Group, Jeremy Blake of Purcell Miller Tritton, Christoph Hoffman of 25Hours Hotel Group and Celia Geyer of Hilton Worldwide.

Categories included Newbuild; Bedrooms & Bathrooms; Café, Bar, Nightclub & Lounge; Conversion of an Existing Building to Hotel Use and Spa, Health & Leisure Facilities.

The shortlisted entries hailed from all over Europe including UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and Croatia.

The Aloft ExCel, London, which McAleer & Rushe built was also shortlisted in the ‘Newbuild Hotel’ category.