Former Leicester Fenwick store undergoing £17m aparthotel transformation

The Grade II-listed former Fenwick department store in Leicester is set to become a high-end, 133-bedroom aparthotel following a £17m transformation.

The venue, called the Gresham, will also house a bar and restaurant, fitness suite, four commercial units and 12,000 sq ft of office and flexible meeting space and is expected to open in the autumn.

New owner, property development company Aimrok Holdings, has aimed to positively contribute to the environment and the local community through the project, for example by donating materials that were no longer needed to local companies in a bid to reduce waste and support small enterprises. This included donating leftover wood to Buckinghamshire-based furniture business Rust Collections.

Snizhana Yesaulenko, director at Aimrok Holdings and managing director of Cube Construction, said: “Through the entire process, we have wanted to give back to the local community as much as we can. We are all about community and being sustainable in our actions, so we're delighted that a local business has been able to put old wood which came out of the building to good use and repurpose into beautiful pieces. I can’t wait to see what will come of it!”

Hove-based Aimrok Holdings acquired the site in 2017. The development was part-funded by an £8.2m loan from Maslow Capital and a £4m Growing Places Fund (GPF) loan through the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP). Leicester City Council is also investing £450,000 to fund the fit-out and set-up costs of the office workspace, from capital set aside for the Leicester Economic Action Plan.