Hotel & Leisure Construction Opportunities Improve
Glenigan's latest research points to an improving outlook for hotel and leisure construction. The underlying value of project starts in the sector (schemes worth up to £100m) rose 93% in the three months to September 2025 compared with a year earlier, while the underlying value of projects receiving detailed planning approval climbed 35% on the same basis.
Several large schemes boosted the figures, including the £450 million Therme Manchester wellbeing resort and the £280 million Cardiff Arena and Hotel at Atlantic Wharf. Glenigan also cites Deloitte's regional crane survey, which earlier this year found more than 2,000 hotel rooms in the pipeline across Belfast, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. In total, Glenigan has identified 964 underlying hotel and leisure projects with detailed consent that are due to start within the next 12 months.
London leads with 152 approved schemes. These include a £64 million redevelopment of the Grade I listed Custom House in the City, a £3.4 million O2 Padel Social Club in Greenwich due to start next spring, and a £19.7 million conversion of the Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station into exhibition and leisure space, with work planned for March.
The South East follows with 128 approved schemes, among them a £9 million refurbishment of the Castle Hotel in Windsor and the £14 million Riverwell Hotel in Watford, where Kier is due to begin early next year. The North West has 108 approved schemes valued between £1 million and £100 million, including the £15.1 million Ribby Village Entertainment Centre.
Hotel operators are also backing higher-end projects. Staycity plans a 25-storey tower on Blackfriars Road for its Wilde Aparthotel brand, with tenders due in November and a start expected next June, and is involved in the £32 million Harmsworth House hotel scheme in the City, for which a planning application has recently been submitted.
Glenigan concludes that London's pipeline and firmer regional prospects are creating opportunities for the construction industry.
