In the news | Pre 2006 |
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Our Aims :: Stop any sale of a long leasehold interest of the Palace that's not for charitable purposes. The 1900 Alexandra Park and Palace Act provided that both Palace and park be held on trust "for the free use and recreation of the public for ever" The Palace is a unique national public asset and should be cherished as such. |
| Pre 2006
For other press cuttings please follow the links Three Ally Pally hopefuls shortlisted The three companies shortlisted to take on the 125-year lease for Alexandra Palace were announced this week. The Business Design Centre Group, which runs the Islington Business Design Centre; Earls Court and Olympia Group; and Firoka (Heythrop Park) Ltd, were selected from the 13 companies who had originally bid to take on the north London landmark. Firoka owns several London hotels, and has converted a large
country house in Oxfordshire into a luxury getaway. The company
also owns Oxford United Football Club. Although Alexandra Palace
could not be transformed into a hotel in its entirety, it is
understood that part of the building could be used for hospitality
or a hotel. Earls Court and Olympia attract 2.4 million visitors every year, hosting top acts such as Madonna, Coldplay and Justin Timberlake, as well as organising some of the UK's largest exhibitions. The Islington Business Design Centre holds high-profile exhibitions, talks and educational fairs. The trio have now been asked to provide a more detailed proposal, and a preferred bidder will be selected in early in 2006. With a mounting restoration bill of £38 million, the trust decided last year to lease the building to a private investor for 125 years. The palace has always failed make a profit and currently costs Haringey council tax payers £500,000 a year. Keith Holder, general manager of Alexandra Palace, said: "The response to the marketing campaign was excellent, and we are pleased to be working with three prestigious companies who presented innovative and high-quality proposals. Our strategy has always been to secure the future of the palace for Londoners." He said they hoped to announce details of the preferred partner early in 2006. Each shortlisted company will be asked to supply a large plan of their proposal, which will be placed at the palace for the public to view in January. Earls Court bosses keen on Palace
bid Entrepreneurs behind Earls Court and Olympia are among the favourites to take over the running of Alexandra Palace. Multi-millionaires Steve Conway, Anthony Lyons and David Coffers have made an offer to turn the debt-ridden palace into one of the UK's most successful exhibition and concert arenas. Their bid is one of 13 received by Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust. Faced with a bill of £38 million to restore the crumbling building, the trust last year decided to lease the building to a private investor for 125 years in a bid to turn around its fortunes. The palace has always failed to run at a profit and drains Haringey's council tax payers of £500,000 a year. "The 13 bids will be subject to evaluation criteria concerning deliverablility, financial and compliance with the charity's objective," said a trust spokesman. "As a result of that evaluation process we expect, within the next few days, to announce the shortlist of three." Earls Court and Olympia attract 2.4 m visitors every year, hosting top acts such as Madonna, Coldplay and Justin Timberlake. Under the name St James Capital, Mr Conway, Mr Lyons and Mr Coffers bought controlling shares in Earls Court in May last year at a cost of £245m. Last week, a group of residents put forward a non-commercial proposal to turn the building into an international museum of garden design. Their plan would see the palace roof removed and the building turned into an artistic ruin' interwoven with gardens. The deadline for bidders to put forward expressions of interest passed at the end of October. Latest accounts show Palace generated £1m Ham
and High 2/2/04
If it's a white
elephant then it's a healthy one Television Guns scare
Londoners
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