Island Quarter owner slips to £3.8m loss

Conygar, the owner and developer of the huge Island Quarter site in Nottingham, has made a loss of almost £4m for the six months ending March 31.

The firm is putting the deficit down to operational, debt financing and administrative cost and writing down of £1.4m in costs in connection with its proposed residential development at the Fruitmarket site in the St Philip’s Marsh area of Bristol.

Conygar says its 693-bed student accommodation site at The Island Quarter will complete as planned and on budged before the end of June, with lettings “progressing well”.

A planning application was submitted in February for the second phase of student accommodation, comprising a 383-bed scheme to sit next to the first phase.

The company said that revenues are “increasing steadily” its Cleaver & Wake and Binks Yard fine dining and bar/restaurant building at The Island Quarter. However, on the back of the cost-of-living crisis and the recent increase in the Living Wage, the venues made a £300,000 loss over the period.

Despite this, Conygar bosses remain upbeat, saying that total revenues for the venue have increased by 30% compared with the same six-month period last year.

A statement said: “With the restaurant and events venue The Island Quarter now well established and expanding its operations, in addition to the first phase student accommodation development in Nottingham becoming rent-producing from September 2024, we anticipate a material uplift in revenues in the coming year to offset against these operational costs.”

Robert Ware, chief executive, said: “Investment activity will take time to return to the levels seen before the market downturn. However, as inflation and interest rates recede, such that costs become more stabilised, the viability of funding opportunities should improve.

“Given the significant progress made at The Island Quarter, Nottingham and with investors prioritising high quality and sustainable investments we are optimistic that opportunities will evolve over the coming months and years which should enable us to maximise the returns from this and our other development sites.”