Turkington Holdings — which made a loss of more than £25m in 2012 — has continued its sell-off strategy with the £2m disposal of a Northern Ireland leisure park. The sale of Eastpoint Leisure Park, near Dundonald, for around £2.2m is the latest multi-million pound sale by the Portsdown-based property group and is the first Northern Ireland commercial property deal recorded in 2014.
First Minister Peter Robinson (centre) has welcomed the plans for Dundonald Omniplex
Turkington disposed of a number of its retail and leisure properties throughout last year, among them a Newry Tesco Extra for over £30m to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, a second Tesco in Craigavon for £23m-plus, and a B&Q retail development in Craigavon to a Jersey property fund for £12m.
Other sales included the James House office block in Belfast’s Gasworks which was bought by Threadneedle Investments for just over £10m and Law Society House in Belfast which was sold to a local investor for £4.25m.
After writing-down the value of its assets, the company also agreed a “comprehensive restructuring” of its £75m bank debt following “lengthy negotiations” with Ulster Bank. The company accounts, filed just before Christmas, showed the firm made a pre-tax loss of £866,000.
Continuing the sell-off, its Eastpoint entertainment complex has now gone to Dunbridge Ltd. The newly-established company, which owns the Omniplex Cinema Group, has said it wants to extend the site’s main building by 10,000sq ft to add four new big screens to the site’s existing Omniplex cinema. Other facilities developed at Eastpoint since its 2008 opening include five restaurants and the Province’s biggest children’s soft play area.
“Dundonald Omniplex was the first digital cinema complex in Ireland and this announcement gives us the opportunity literally to build on that achievement as well as to inject new energy and vision into the overall site,” explained Omniplex operations director, Paul Anderson, who will also manage the enlarged project.
“The complex delivers an annual footfall of 500,000 and this financial investment should not only significantly increase that number, but also generate much needed additional local employment as part of a widening cluster of excellent local entertainment and leisure facilities,” said Anderson. “We believe that our business future in Northern Ireland is bright and full of potential.”
Dunbridge — which owns 11 cinemas in Northern Ireland and 11 in the Republic employing 250 people — says it plans to spend at least another £2.5m on the Eastpoint upgrade, creating 10 jobs. Subject to approval work is due to start by late summer.
The acquisition and investment plans have already attracted support from both local and national politicians. Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Peter Robinson, is a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the area. “The Dundonald Omniplex has been a fantastically successful project and this deal will cement that success, further boosting the economic health of the area by making high-quality entertainment facilities available to local visitors and overseas tourists alike,” he said.
Jim White is chairman of Castlereagh Council leisure and parks committee. “This is good news for everyone,” he said. “Tourism and leisure are vital to the borough’s economy and provide great opportunities as a catalyst for employment, as well as helping to grow private sector businesses like Omniplex to the benefit of the whole community.”
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