Glasgow-based BDL Management Ltd. (BDL) is to develop and manage a new 100-room hotel on the island of Shetland backed by a £6.5m funding package from Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate & Institutional Banking (RBS CIB).
BDL is the UK’s largest multi-brand and hotel management company for both branded as well as independent hotels.
Specialising in developing and managing hotel assets for owners, BDL has built 30 hotels with a total of 3,850 rooms and presently has 46 hotels under management contract.
Building work on the hotel in Shetland started on August 20 and BDL’s management contract will last for ten years. The property, which will be located in Brae, will initially be used primarily to accommodate workers on a new gas development project off the west coast of Shetland, guaranteeing high occupancy rates.
Stuart McCaffer, vice chairman, BDL Shetland, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this contract to build a new hotel on Shetland which will be a fantastic addition to our portfolio. Securing financing for new build hotels is difficult at the moment so we are grateful to the Royal Bank of Scotland for providing this funding and helping us to deliver this ambitious project.”
Lesley Stark, director - client coverage, Glasgow, RBS CIB, said: “BDL is a great company with a great management team and we’re pleased to be supporting them with this opportunity.
“This is a significant deal which we hope will have a huge positive impact on the local community on Shetland and we look forward to working with the team at BDL to help them deliver the project.”