VIDEO | Lawrence Kenwright on the rise of Signature Living

Watch Lawrence Kenwright’s speech at the Hill Dickinson Developer’s Conference, the annual property industry event at Chester Zoo, which has attracted more than 50,000 views on Kenwright’s Facebook page.

The social media fan explains how the group-stay hotel specialist tapped into the modern craze for sharing selfies, and discovered places online to secure advanced bookings and achieve 99% occupancy at his hotels, which include the Shankly Hotel and 30 James Street.

During the 30-minute presentation, Kenwright recalls the story of kickstarting his development career with an invitation to Singapore to pitch to a room full of investors, where he raised nearly £5m from 65 private investors in one afternoon.

The Signature Living group now contains seven hotels and aparthotels with plans for many more, with sites in Preston and Manchester among the next wave. The first to open outside Liverpool, at the Cardiff Coal Exchange, started trading in recent weeks. Last week, Kenwright unveiled plans for Croxteth Hall in Liverpool and today he is visiting Belfast to discuss plans for a listed building conversion on Crumlin Road.

https://www.facebook.com/lawrence.kenwright/videos/10213597067270181/?hc_ref=ARTpS0YsqGTC5ng74paf9UyK4pKauY8QmYK8jVAUDcqSTzZsug4jHo4NLW7FSN-iNj8&pnref=story

At a glance, some of the standout figures from the speech:

• 85% of guests at Signature Living hotels are women
• 250 weddings a year are held at 30 James Street
• 14 August 2008, Kenwright forms Signature Living
• 2,200 sq ft, first property under Signature Living, an apartment filled with 15 beds
• £100,000 a week food and beverage income at 30 James Street
• 1,700 beds in Signature Living’s Liverpool venues, with plans to rise to 2,500
• average group size has risen from six-to-eight people in 2008 to 16-18 today, driven by social media sharing culture
• 25 people work in the online content department producing video, posts and responses
• £4m bid for Municipal Buildings, sold by Liverpool City Council, losing out to £10m Singaporean investor Fragrance Group