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Laurence and Ben discuss investment in a long-running Leeds nightclub, properties which feature in Bridgerton and Four in a Bed hitting the market, and results for a cash and carry business.

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00:00Investment in a long-running Leeds nightclub, a pair of landmark properties

00:04coming to market, and results for a cash-and-carry business. That's all

00:08coming up in today's business briefing.

00:14My name is Lawrence Kilgannon. My name is Ben Butler. Well, morning Ben. One of the

00:21areas of real interest for our viewers is commercial properties coming to

00:25market. That can be all sorts of different offices or what have you, but you've got

00:31one of a country house in the southwest with a very interesting history, so

00:35perhaps you can tell me a bit about it. Yes, so it's on the edge of Bristol and it

00:38operates as a wedding, corporate and events venue. Right. And it's also as a

00:43filming location for hit Netflix drama Bridgerton. Right, are you a fan

00:48of Bridgerton, Ben? I've not seen it myself, but I know it's a very popular

00:52programme. It is, it is. I too haven't seen it. I've sort of heard it's like a

00:56period drama with a bit of a sort of racy edge to it, which was a shock when I

01:03found my 15-year-old daughter watching it. But apparently her mum said it's okay.

01:07Yes, and so it's up for sale and it's called Leigh Court in Abbots

01:12Leigh. It's only about three miles from Bristol city centre and it's set within

01:1622 acres of parkland and woodland and it's been brought to market by Alder

01:21King Property Consultants. So the firm had previously acquired the property for

01:25the current owners 21 years ago. Oh, so it's not often for sale then? No, so it's

01:30quite a rare opportunity and it's also served as a sought-after filming

01:34location for other high-profile productions. So you've got BBC's Doctor

01:37Who and also ITV's Sanditon and the estate's history also extends more than 200

01:44years. So it actually, its origins actually trace back to the Tudor era.

01:48Fascinating. And Leigh Court itself has been offered for sale freehold and

01:52offers are invited in excess of 5.5 million pounds if of interest. Well I

02:00think it's perhaps beyond my budget, Ben. Yes, same with me. And you've mentioned how it's

02:05used as a wedding venue, obviously as a production venue, but are there other

02:09things that can be done? Yeah, there's potential future uses for the site, so

02:12get to planning and other necessary consent. So that could include apartments,

02:17things like that. So, you know, there are other, you know, potential

02:23opportunities there. Excellent, well I really like the sound of that. I'd love to go to a

02:26wedding or something like that if I've seen the show. Because you'd be like, oh, X did this.

02:29No, it's a very grand looking building, so yeah. Okay, very interesting. And actually

02:34in the area of properties up for sale, this has also got a TV link. Are you

02:40aware of Four in a Bed? Yes, I've heard of it, yes. Okay, well this is a Skegness

02:45property, an Alice in Wonderland themed hotel in the seaside town. A bit of a tourist

02:51location. Yeah, yeah, and so the Hastas Hotel, it featured on Four in a Bed and

02:56it was bought by Gary and Dee Allen in 2021. Right, okay. And they sort of invested in

03:02creating like Alice in Wonderland themed bedrooms and so on throughout the

03:07property. That's interesting. Yeah, absolutely. And I actually don't watch Four in a Bed,

03:12but for some reason I saw this episode. Yeah. I remember thinking I'd love to go

03:16and stay there because it'd be interesting as a fan of the book. Yes, of course. I've not

03:20actually seen the film, but the book's really sort of poignant in my memory. And

03:25anyhow, the hotel it's being up for auction, it's auctioned by Pew, a part of

03:31Edison's. Not quite the numbers that you were talking about, but this one

03:36is available whilst asking price of £650,000. Right, okay. So two great

03:41opportunities for property investors there, Ben. But away from that, you've got

03:46news of a cash-and-carry again with an interesting history in Cardiff. Yes, so

03:51it's called Global Foods and its foundations were laid all the way back

03:56in 1964 and it started quite humble beginnings with the opening of a corner

04:01shop. Right. But since then it's branched out into catering supplies in the 1970s

04:06and then the shop was sold the following decade as this side of the business

04:10expanded, culminating in a move to a purpose-built 50,000 square foot

04:15warehouse in 1987. So they're based in Cardiff and as a business they sell

04:21ambient frozen and chilled products to the food trade from the warehouse as

04:26well as for delivery. And the company also serves approximately 5,000

04:30customers from the premises and the statement accompanying the results read

04:36the directors feel that the company is in a strong position to face any coming

04:40uncertainties that may arise and as well as that in its latest year it

04:44posted results featuring improved margins with steady turnover. So a

04:49positive set of results and the outlook going forward is also looking very good

04:55as well. Excellent, great stuff, interesting to hear. And almost a

05:01weekend, Ben, have you got your dancing shoes ready? I can do. Well the reason I

05:06say is because we've got a great story about one of Leeds longest

05:09running night spots, The Space. That's very near the Corn Exchange in the

05:15town, so right in the city centre. Anyhow it's investing £250,000

05:20into enhancing its offer in a move that's designed to celebrate its

05:2625th anniversary. Are you familiar with the building? Well I did go to Leeds

05:31University and I used to cover extensively Leeds here at Insider. So I

05:37recognised the building but I think it was one of the few places which I didn't

05:42attend. I did my best to attend most nightclubs. Will you be going back to this now?

05:47Well it sounds like it because this investment, Ben, it's going to be into

05:51lighting, decor, something that really caught my eye is an LED ceiling which

05:56sounded fantastic if you're out there dancing and also as you can

06:01imagine they're investing in an upgraded sound system and a new VIP area. So

06:05excellent to see because everyone knows how difficult the hospitality sector has

06:09been. It sounds like an exciting development. Yeah so for The Space to be

06:13celebrated 25 years, that is a superb achievement. Fantastic. Anyhow to find

06:18out more about the stories we've discussed today go to insidermedia.com.

06:21There you can subscribe to our newsletters, you can subscribe to our

06:25magazines and you can find out about upcoming events. That's everything from

06:29us, see you next time. Thank you.

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