Yorkshire Bank backs multi million pound commercial property deals

21st January 2008

A SERIES of multi-million pound deals backing new commercial property schemes in Yorkshire have been completed by Yorkshire Bank's Leeds Financial Solutions Centre (FSC).

A £5.18m facility for GMI Waterside Shipley Ltd to acquire the former Filtronic headquarters in Shipley is among the transactions by the bank's Structured Property Finance Team.

The funding allows GMI Waterside Shipley, a subsidiary of Leeds-based GMI Holdings, to acquire the late 1990s-built, 54,300 sq ft offices and 37,500 sq ft of ancillary warehousing next to Salts Mill. GMI Waterside Shipley Ltd will redevelop and refurbish the property where 19,000 sq ft of offices is leased to Nokia Siemens Networks (UK) Ltd.

Yorkshire Bank has also agreed a £517m, two-year facility to Leeds-based office, healthcare and residential developer, Oakapple Group, for the acquisition and development of  seven offices units totaling 34,000 sq ft on the Aire Valley Bypass close to Keighley town centre. The development starts on site in February and completes this autumn.

The Structured Property Finance Team has also provided Wakefield-based Aspasia Group with £12.350m to acquire a Brownfield site and develop a mixed-use office and apartments scheme in North Park Road, Bradford.

The two-phase development will see the former Woolston Warehouse turned into 106 apartments while National House will be redeveloped into 54 apartments and offices.

Aspasia Group is to start on site in March for an 18-month development phase for the scheme which is already 75 per cent let.

Head of the Structured Property Finance Team, senior partner Sylvia Bowden, says: "We still face strong demand for funding for exciting commercial property and residential schemes in spite of market volatility and gloomy forecasts, and we have the liquidity to support them.

"We are pleased to be backing Yorkshire-based property developers for this series of important regeneration schemes which are among a number of significant transactions nationwide."

Yorkshire Bank's Leeds FSC, which has more than 106 corporate, commercial and private banking specialists, is among seven created throughout Yorkshire and Humber to spearhead a new integrated, one-stop-shop approach to business and personal banking by providing businesses fast access to multi- discipline teams of bankers.

For Further Information:

Stuart Neill   
Yorkshire Bank
Tel. 0845 60 35 44 77 or 07767 788 765

Natasha Lobley
The BIG Partnership
Tel. 0141 333 9585 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks are both part of the National Australia Group.

Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank was founded in 1859 in Halifax, West Yorkshire.  Today, the Bank has more than 190 Yorkshire Bank branches, a strong personal customer base and a growing business capability in the North of England and the Midlands.

Yorkshire Bank is a trading name of Clydesdale Bank plc, which is a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group of companies. Yorkshire Bank joined the Group in 1990.

Financial Solutions Centres
Yorkshire Bank Financial Solutions Centres (FSC) offer Members a tailored range of business and private banking services under one roof. A team of specialist partners, each with considerable local experience, work together to provide Members with end to end solutions for their business and private banking needs. In addition to banking services, the FSCs also operate as a hub for local business, with a range of networking opportunities and meeting facilities available as a benefit of membership.
Over 70 FSCs are located around the UK and in 2006 represented over half of the National Australia Bank Group's UK income.