Bridges backs budget hotel Qbic

Ellie Pullen
11 November 2013

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Bridges Ventures has backed budget boutique hotel Qbic London City Hotel via its Bridges Sustainable Growth Fund III.

The hotel is set to open this week.

The GP's Bridges Sustainable Growth Fund III vehicle held its final close in October on £125m, having exceeded its target of £100m. The fund typically invests £2-15m.

Bridges stated that 80% of the fund will be invested in companies that operate in the most deprived parts of the UK. Qbic's London hotel is located in the Whitechapel district in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, which is one of the most deprived local authority districts in England, according to Bridges.

Qbic's concept developers, Paul Rinkens and Paul Janmaat, will work with Bridges to begin efforts to roll out the Qbic Hotel chain across other parts of the UK. Rinkens and Janmaat are already looking for other potential sites in London, according to Bridges.

The firm has been working with Qbic's developers to incorporate sustainable and regeneration operations into its business model, such as sourcing local food produce, hiring a large proportion of its staff from local 'back-to-work' charities and using solar panels and heat pumps to reduce the hotel's CO2 emissions.

Company
Qbic is a division of Dutch hospitality company La Bergère Group. Qbic's first hotel opened in Amsterdam in 2007.

Qbic London City Hotel features 171 rooms, all of which are designed in a similar way to pod or capsule rooms – the hotel uses a piece of cubic, modular furniture called the Cubi that incorporates all elements of the hotel room, namely a bed, bathroom, television and lighting. Rooms range in price from £59-84 per night.

People
Paul Rinkens and Paul Janmaat developed the Qbic Hotel concept in Amsterdam. Anne-Marie Harris is a partner at Bridges and part of the team that manages the firm's Sustainable Growth funds.