Founded in 1992, The Santon Group is one of the largest private developers in the country with its latest audited turnover in excess of £600m.
The Group also has substantial investments in listed property companies such as Raven Russia Limited and the Conygar Investment Company plc.
The senior management team – Bim Sandhu, Vincent Donnelly, Clive Wilding, Humphrey Kelsey and Sean Carey – has worked together for over 12 years and it’s this lasting relationship which has helped to shape the Group.
Santon’s expertise lies in the planning and development of both residential and commercial properties.
Santon Group Chief Executive, Bim Sandhu, commented:
“Our success has been based upon taking a flexible and value-enhancing approach to all situations and this has enabled us to overcome recent market conditions.”
The Group has won numerous awards over the years, including Best Conversion at the What House Awards for its Tehidy Park Development in Cornwall and Best UK Property for its St Saviours House development in Knightsbridge.
North Street Quarter
North Street Quarter in Lewes, East Sussex is a new scheme for The Santon Group, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2014/2015.
Santon acquired the 15 acre industrial site in February 2012 and whilst the details of the development have yet to be finalised, initial surveys have been undertaken and consultations with both the Council and National Parks Association have progressed well.
Santon Group Property Director, Clive Wilding, said:
“The site offers an excellent opportunity to make use of a currently underused riverside area of Lewes with capabilities for residential, retail and leisure developments, which will bring both economic and social benefits to the town.”
The North Street Quarter project has an estimated GDV of £100 million. Funding to date has been provided by Santon and its South African funding partners.
The Highland Club
The Highland Club is a multiple award-winning development that was completed in April 2012. The £30 million development comprises 112 residential apartments and cottages, covering an area in excess of 200,000 sq ft.
Santon in this particular instance set up its own construction company, Santon Contracting Limited, which was used as the main contractor on The Highland Club project, whilst LDN Architects was the architect. Work on the project spanned 2004 to 2012.
Santon Group Planning and Development Director, Humphrey Kelsey, said:
“The Highland Club is a project we hold with great pride as we believe it is an outstanding example of a conversion of a listed building, being a Grade A Scottish Heritage Abbey which will provide 112 homes, a restaurant and leisure facilities.”
To date, The Highland Club has won awards for Conversion of the Year at the Scottish Home Awards 2012 and Development of Multiple Units at the International Property Awards 2012; as well as receiving a number of nominations for other awards, being held later in the year.
Santon Group London Public House Portfolio
As part of its impressive array of developments, The Santon Group has also undertaken an extensive portfolio of public house conversions. Sites within the portfolio include The Duke of Norfolk, Notting Hill; The Man on The Moon, Chelsea; and The Spencer Arms, Putney.
The Duke of Norfolk project comprised the conversion of an upper floor level into a residential apartment; the excavation of the basement to increase the floor to ceiling height; and the conversion of the ground and basement levels into 202 – a flagship store for Nicole Farhi.
The Man on The Moon project comprised the conversion of upper floor levels into five residential apartments, the conversion of the ground and basement levels into Eight over Eight – a high quality restaurant – and the construction of a three bedroom house to the side of the pub. Meanwhile The Spencer Arms project involved the conversion of upper floors into three residential apartments; the demolition of a single storey dining room; and the construction of a new build four-bedroom house.
Tesco Superstore Sheffield
Completed in October 2011, this was one of over fifty supermarkets the Group has developed for Tesco over the last ten years. It was a 7 acre site, situated 1.3 miles north-west of Sheffield city centre. The £45 million mixed-use scheme comprised a two-storey 120,000 sq ft supermarket, a linked petrol filling station, eight retail units – totalling 15,000 sq ft – and ancillary office accommodation. In addition, the scheme also included a 645 ground floor car park.
Bowmer & Kirkland was the main contractor on the project, whilst Saunders Partnership Limited was the architect. HSBC Bank provided debt funding.
The scheme was built on stilts and was customised using Multi Panel Facades (MPF) created by Hunter Douglas to meet a detailed design brief. A very unique feature of the scheme included the use of ‘shards’, which were metal strips that cut through the facade.
Tesco Distribution Warehouse Livingston
Located in the heart of Scotland in West Lothian, along the M8 corridor and completed in August 2011, this project was a £65 million scheme for supermarket giant, Tesco. The project comprised construction of an 822,000 sq ft distribution warehouse, 30,000 sq ft of two-storey ancillary offices, a 105,000 sq ft recycling service unit and a 19,000 sq ft vehicle maintenance unit.
The project also included construction of 1,060 on-site car parking spaces and 621 trailer parking spaces.
The Tesco Distribution Warehouse includes a number of multi-temperature chambers, including ambient, fresh, chilled and frozen environments. Cladding to the chilled and freezer environments comprises a single skin panel to walls and roofs, whilst a more conventional trapezoidal roof cladding system is employed on the ambient environments.
VINCI Construction UK Limited was the main contractor on the project, whilst Ashton Smith Associates was the architect.
