UK: Australia-based operator Quest Apartment Hotels will open a 100-unit property in Liverpool city centre in 2019.
Quest Liverpool City Centre will be located on Church Street, adjacent to the landmark Liverpool ONE complex. The building itself is a 1980s commercial office building with retail on the ground and first floors. Quest will invest £10 million to convert the existing vacant office space on levels two, three and four and construct additional levels five and six, creating 100 serviced apartments, reception, conference room, gym and back-of-house facilities.
Andrew Weisz, director of UK development at Quest, said: “Hospitality brands have a huge role to play in opening up city centre locations for business again, but against a backdrop of economic uncertainty – it is clear that businesses want to spend travel budgets wisely. We’ve immersed ourselves in the UK market in recent months and can see the potential for the aggressive expansion of both our brand and the apartment hotel industry here.’
Quest says it chose Liverpool as its first UK venue after being encouraged by the government’s Northern Powerhouse strategy.
Michael Ward, British consul-general and director general, UK Department for International Trade, Australia and New Zealand, said: “We’re delighted to have been working with Quest on their UK expansion plans. In the past 12 months alone, DIT has assisted over 100 Australian businesses expand to the UK – more than ever before – an indication of both the ongoing strength of the UK economy and the high level of interest in the UK market from innovative Australasian companies.”</p
