Derwent appointed to manage Opal sites

STUDENT accommodation provider Derwent Students has been appointed to manage four sites owned by Manchester-based Opal, which went into administration last month.

Derwent, part of Derby-based Derwent Living, the trading name of Derwent Housing Association, will take on sites in Nottingham, Sheffield, Liverpool and Wrexham.

It will manage and maintain the buildings, as well as market the accommodation to domestic and international students, handling all bookings.

The move follows KPMG’s appointment as administrator to 15 companies. The group has been broken up with Ernst & Young handling 13 companies, Grant Thornton four and PwC 22.

David Crawshaw, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG, said: “The appointment of Derwent will ensure that the four high quality student accommodation sites continue to attract and support new and existing domestic and international students, and help to meet the strong demand for accommodation near the cities’ universities. We have appointed Derwent due to its strong market reputation and to ensure that we continue to provide a high level of service to the students.”

Martin Corbett, managing director at Derwent, said: “Derwent Students will continue to enhance the student experience through letting and managing these high quality assets to an exceptional standard. We will also utilise our status as a housing association and our financial strength to attract interested parties and support the sale process.”