Developer reveals ambition to create ‘perfect balance’

The developer set to transform the City Buildings scheme in Nottingham city centre says he is about two years away from having the “perfectly balanced” property portfolio.

David Shelton, owner of Shoby Investments, and the man who set up, floated and then sold car retail giant Motorpoint, told a sell-out audience at TheBusinessDesk.com’s Entrepreneurs Lunch that, the next two years will see Shoby Investments balance its portfolio after which time he would look to step back from the family business.

Shelton revealed that the process to buy the City Buildings took over a year of careful negotiations with Nottingham City Council.

He added: “There is a real dearth of office space in Nottingham city centre and so we’ll be bringing 32,000 sq ft of accommodation forward with the City Buildings. We know that local companies such as Littlefish are looking for space to grow into and so we think the scheme will be a success.”

In an entertaining talk, Shelton also talked about his passion for farming, how, after the success of Motorpoint, he would find himself invited to the directors’ box of his beloved Nottingham Forest and his plans for semi-retirement.

“I don’t think I’ll ever properly retire,” he said, “but I think that beach isn’t too far away. In the next two years we should have created a balanced property portfolio – then I can think about relaxing a little.”