Pret man launches quest for City hotel

THE CITY of London is to get only its third hotel after banks, private investors and venture capitalists decided to back Pret A Manger cofounder Sinclair Beecham in his new venture to the tune of £18.4m.

The Quest Hotel will be built from scratch on the junction of Willow Street and Great Eastern Street in revitalised Shoreditch.

The 200-room hotel, which Beecham hopes will be the start of a chain, will be 'design-led' in a boutique style but pitched at the less-expensive end of the market, charging about £100 a night.

The bar, restaurant and business centre will be outsourced while booking will be over the internet, with an automated check-in.

Building is due to start later this year with the opening planned for spring 2006. The Quest will be aimed primarily at the business market but will also target weekend visitors.

The largest chunk of the funding is in the form of £12m debt from Allied Irish Bank. Beecham, New Look millionaire Tom Singh and Graham Hazell, chairman of actuarial firm Hazell Carr, have each put in £1m while Hotbed and Bridge Community Ventures have contributed £1.5m apiece.

Hotbed is a specialist firm that puts individual backers into a range of ventures for minimum stakes of £25,000. Bridge Community Ventures supports projects in underinvested areas.