OakNorth completes £21.7m loan to Starboard Hotels

OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has completed a £21.7m loan to Starboard Hotels, one of the UK’s fastest growing, award-winning owners and operators of franchised and own-brand hotels.

Founded in 2006, Starboard has grown into one of the country’s most well-known and trusted hotel owners and operators. Earlier this year, the group acquired four ibis Styles hotels from Carillion, increasing its total portfolio to 20 hotels and approximately 2,000 rooms across the UK. The £21.7m loan from OakNorth will be used to develop a new 162-bedroom hotel in Park Royal, under the Hampton by Hilton brand which has over 2,000 hotels globally. The site is a stone’s throw from both Park Royal Underground Station and Park Royal Business Park – the capital’s largest business park housing over 1,000 businesses. With the Park Royal development, the Starboard Hotels is targeting business travelers seeking an easily accessible and convenient place to stay whilst in the city on business.

Paul Callingham, Starboard’s Managing Director, commented:

“We have been very fortunate to work with some of the world’s most established and well-known hotel brands and this is going to be our first venture with the Hampton by Hilton franchise. We are very much looking forward to working with Deepesh and his team on this exciting new project, and are grateful to the support we received from OakNorth, as well as Ciel Capital and DWF LLP.”

Deepesh Thakrar, Senior Debt Finance Director at OakNorth, said:

“Despite ongoing uncertainty over Brexit, investment in the UK hotel sector last year reached a whopping £5 billion – a 35 percent increase on the previous year. Starboard played a key role in this, continuing to expand their portfolio while protecting the future of several hotels and their staff.

“Over the last 12 years, Starboard Hotels has established a sterling reputation in comprehensive hotel management and optimising asset performance, without compromising on exceptional customer service and guest experience. The Starboard team are incredibly experienced and have a proven track record of successfully developing new hotels, as well as acquiring and expanding existing ones. We look forward to seeing the new development in Park Royal and working with Paul and the team in the future.”