Property

On the move

Relocating to a 75-acre site in south-east Leicestershire was a significant milestone in one school’s 25-year history. Duncan Green describes how the project was conceived and, ultimately, how and why it succeeded

Leicester Grammar School is an independent, co-educational school for 1,250 pupils aged three to 18. Its new school complex was officially opened by the Queen on 4 December 2008.

The school had previously occupied two sites: a city centre senior school housed in late-Victorian buildings and a junior school, a few miles out of town, tucked away in Leicester’s suburbs. Neither site could properly accommodate both schools, nor had space to meet the increasing demand for pupil places nor allow for development of sporting facilities.

Traditionally, when independent schools need to raise cash, they exhaust savings accounts, approach high street banks or rely on the generosity of benefactors and legacy fundraising. For Leicester Grammar, established in the 1980s, there were few wealthy benefactors and no significant assets to dispose of, apart from existing school buildings.

All party support
Bringing plans for the new school to fruition came from close co-operation between the headmaster and three main parties (designers Pick Everard, funders Land Securities Trillium Property Partnerships (LST) and contractors Norwest Holst Limited (Part of VINCI PLC)). The challenge was to fund, design and build an affordable school, on time and to a guaranteed fixed price.

Before entering the teaching profession, headmaster Christopher King had worked in industry on a wide range of capital projects and had been closely involved in project development. His experience proved invaluable in understanding the need for a good design brief and in maintaining a positive attitude to overcoming setbacks that
inevitably occurred in the early stages, particularly when a Public Enquiry delayed progress with planning approvals.
Funding presented a major challenge. To secure funding, a thorough and realistic business case had to be devised, demonstrating that the school had the ability in the long-term to attract bright and capable pupils in a competitive market and to sustain its quality of educational provision.

LST brought funding advisers, Infrastructure Investments Ltd, on board. Their financial modelling showed that a sustainable rate of return on investment was achievable, irrespective of the gearing and available current assets. LST provided £30 million of funding for land purchase and construction, and set out a flexible tenancy contract that allows the school to lease the property over a 35-year period. The facility to inject funds from the sale of previous school buildings has been accommodated in the lease contract and it is likely that the school will exercise an option to purchase the freehold after 15 years.

A fixed-price contract
With the funding package in place, the outline design was developed and the construction and delivery programme
for the new school was agreed at a guaranteed fixed price. The design of the new school buildings and sports
complex has made a minimal impact on the surrounding landscape, yet provides facilities flexible enough to
accommodate the demands of contemporary schooling.

With high levels of insulation, natural lighting and ventilation, the carbon footprint is low and more than 10 per cent of energy used will come from the school’s own renewable energy sources.

Inspiring design elements were paramount, and include the senior school atrium entrance foyer, a main library at the heart of the school, and multi-use resource areas to complement teaching and performance facilities. Sporting facilities are expansive, with floodlit, all-weather hockey pitches, first-class rugby pitches, county-standard cricket pitches and a hard tennis/netball court complex. Multiple badminton courts, basketball, netball and cricket nets, a gym and dance studio, fitness suite and a 25-metre competition swimming pool are housed within an indoor
sports centre.

The school’s long-term business plan succeeded because the financial market had confidence in a head whose backing team of suppliers had experience and track-records of delivering major projects.

Duncan Green is a partner at Pick Everard. Duncan can be contacted on 0116 223 4400 or by email duncangreen@pickeverard.co.uk

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