Developers to transform historic Alnwick building following £650,000 investment

The Grade-II listed building on Fenkle Street previously housed the Dickinson’s of Alnwick furniture store from the early 19th century.

It was then used in 2019 as the filming location for the fictitious ‘Bank of Northumbria’ in the popular Sky One series The Heist which saw members of the public plan an audacious Hatton Garden-style bank job to steal £1million.

Now, Northumbria Property Developments Ltd has secured finance through a £650,000 investment by FW Capital, which manages the North East Property Fund.

It will see the disused building transformed into seven two-bedroom apartments with commercial space on the ground floor. As many original features as possible will be retained.

Northumbria Property Developments Ltd was set up in 2019 by a team of experienced property professionals to complete small scale developments.

The North East Property Fund was established with the aim of supporting the development of small-scale property schemes and is backed by Santander and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). It offers loans from £250,000 up to £1million for residential and non-speculative commercial developments.

Robin Cairns, Northumbria Property Developments Ltd director, said: “This development will breathe new life into an important local building and help revitalise Alnwick by providing much-sought after holiday accommodation and new retail space.

“We are a local company and the North East Property Fund is an ideal source of investment for local developers such as ourselves and we are delighted to have FW Capital as our funding partner for this project.”

Tony Cullen, investment executive at FW Capital, added: “This investment has facilitated the development of seven new apartments and ground floor retail space. This will bring people and jobs to the centre of Alnwick and help boost the local economy.

“The North East Property Fund is designed to provide the finance needed to facilitate small-scale developments like this. Given the great location and history of this prominent building, we are sure the scheme will prove very popular.”

Andrew Moffat, chair of the Investment Board at the North East LEP, said: “Hopefully the success of Northumbria Property Developments will encourage other small and medium-sized construction and property development companies to follow suit and apply.”

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