Room2 has welcomed Mark Harris, the former head of UK & Ireland and managing director at private equity firm, The Carlyle Group, as strategic investment partner as it targets 5,000 rooms by 2030.
Harris’s primary role will be to help raise finance from institutions, family offices and high net worth individuals to enable up to £250m of investment into room2’s pipeline of hometel developments across the UK.
He brings more than 20 years’ industry experience including 13 years at The Carlyle Group, where he was responsible for over £2.5bn of investments and played a pivotal role in the establishment and growth of operational alternative real estate platforms including Pure Student Living and Uncommon coworking.
Harris will also advise on the growth of the Room2 platform and the development and delivery of new schemes.
Conceived in 2015, the 'hometel' concept is the brainchild of brothers, Robert and Stuart Godwin. Room2 has two sites, Southampton Hometel and Hammersmith Townhouse, both of which have performed strongly since opening.
Room2 has a further pipeline of live projects across the UK with a Gross Development Value of over £100 million, including sites in Chiswick and Manchester, featuring a mix of wholly owned assets and those pre-leased to room2 by development partners.
Robert Godwin commented, “Having successfully established two operating hometels which are performing very strongly, and identified a significant pipeline of properties and sites across the UK, we now feel it is important to look outside of the group and work with the right people who can help us grow.
“We now look forward to working with Mark as we continue to grow our platform and firmly establish room2’s position at the forefront of the hometel sector.”