Sale of luxury apartments brings hugely successful Cheltenham businessman into sight
A high-profile property sale in the centre of Cheltenham has revealed more than just a stunning building, it's given us a rare glimpse of one of the town's most successful property tycoons.
Dear reader,
Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Raikes Journal.
The key figure in the main story below made his mark before social media began demanding everyone and anyone who wanted to be thought of as a serious success had a profile online. Back when discretion was the thing.
His story was another piece of news about the sale of a building in Cheltenham, but it made us want to ask just where the owner’s capital came from? Who was he? How had he amassed such an impressive property portfolio and yet remained off the radar for most people - until now?
Speaking of buildings for sale in Cheltenham, there were concerning noises from a recent meeting of the borough council, after questions were asked about whether the sale of its Grade II* listed Municipal Offices will fall through as Gloucestershire Airport’s sale did.
We have news of a seminar exploring how purpose-led businesses achieve more growth and how your company can become one of those, by Victoria Petkovic-Short of APT Marketing. Plus we bring word about places opening up on QuoLux’s much sought after leadership development programme, LEAD™, proven to help businesses achieve new levels of productivity.
There are other diary dates too, and if you’re searching for inspiration, we have a tale about a man from Cheltenham with Parkinson’s disease cycling 3,300km cycle ride across the United States.
Have a great week.
Best regards,
Editor | 07956 926061 | LinkedIn: Andrew Merrell | andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk
Charity of the Week: Parkinson’s UK
Whatever you’ve been doing for the last few days it’s probably not been as taxing a time as Jonathan White from Cheltenham has faced. White, who has Parkinson’s disease, is into day five of a 3,300km cycle ride across the United States from Seattle to Phoenix.
He is hoping to raise funds and awareness of the charity Parkinson’s UK, which campaigns for better health care for people with the progressive neurodegenerative disorder. To complete the mission he will have to climb 95,000 feet, cross the Arizona Desert and cover a distance longer than the Tour de France 2026 course. All on a bicycle.
“This ride is about showing what people with Parkinson’s can achieve, highlighting the benefits of exercise, and supporting the work of Parkinson’s UK,” said the former chairman of Parkinson’s UK’s Cheltenham branch.
Ruth Wright, community fundraiser at South West for Parkinson’s UK, said: “On behalf of everyone at Parkinson’s UK, thank you to Jonathan and the whole team for making such a meaningful difference.”
To support and make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/page/jonathan-white-pedal2phoenix. For more information visit parkinsons.org.uk or call the charity’s free, confidential helpline on 0808 800 0303.
Is the sale of Cheltenham’s Municipal Offices about to fall through?
Questions have been raised over whether the sale of Cheltenham’s Grade II* listed Municipal Offices will fall through like that of Gloucestershire Airport.
The home of Cheltenham Borough Council is in the process of being sold and could be turned into a luxury spa by its future owners. Council chiefs have been in negotiations with preferred bidder Almiranta Capital since May last year.
But now council housing staff are understood to be relocating to the grade II-listed Promenade building from Hesters Way Community Resource Centre prompting questions over the sale.
Council leader Rowena Hay (LD, Oakley), responded to questions about the sale at the last full council meeting and said it was a “fact of life” that any deal could fall through.
“Do I think that it could go down the same way as the airport? Clearly, it could. But I’m not prepared at this point to say that ‘yes that is the way it is going to go’.
“Because the noises, the work and the due diligence that is happening is all very positive, as it was with the airport.
“But sometimes these very big deals just don’t come off. As anyone who has been involved in business and selling commercial (property knows) it’s a fact of life.”
*Special thanks to Carmelo Garcia of the BBC for this one.
More news…
📈 ‘Particularly strong demand’ in key markets led to engineering powerhouse and Gloucestershire-headquartered Renishaw upgrading its forecasts for the year ahead. In an unscheduled statement this morning the FTSE 250-listed firm said trading in the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing equipment markets, as well as aerospace and defence, had proved “robust’’ and delivered a “substantial expansion” of its order book. Revenue is now expected to come in somewhere between £775 million and £805m. Adjusted profit before tax is forecast to be around £145m to £165m. A more detailed trading update to March 31 is due on 6 May.
Food for thought…
📈 Do you want to increase productivity at our business? A seminar due to be staged on Thursday will ask “can workplace wellbeing solve the UK productivity crisis?” - and with good reason. Last year business owner Victoria Petkovic-Short spent 10 months researching the impact on productivity of micro and small businesses that adopted positive approach to well-being. What she found was “revelatory”. Businesses that did this reported a 30 to 50 per cent increase to their productivity, all leveraged through workplace wellbeing. The MD of APT Marketing is gearing up to discuss her findings at a special seminar on Wednesday 22 April from 12.30pm to 1.30pm. More here.
📈 QuoLux’s forthcoming LEAD™ programme. Following on from the words directly above, if you are looking to increase your productivity the other route is to invest in your leadership team. Data from QuoLux, a specialist in leadership development that has worked with hundreds of business people and firms across the UK and beyond, shows it works. Research by the Gloucester-headquartered company, which is a certified B Corp, shows that purpose-driven organisations outperform their peers on financial metrics, employee retention and customer loyalty. Your business could become one of those. Places on its much sought after leadership development programme, LEAD™, are now available again. More here and here.
Diary Dates…
Tuesday…
How Business Owners Remove Friction: Simple Systems to Finish What Matters. From 6pm to 8pm at The Site, Cheltenham, GL51 9LT. More here.
Wednesday…
The Growth Hub in Stroud. Henny Maltby, a growth marketer, trainer and SEO specialist, is due to stage this seminar - How to create an on-line strategic marketing plan – a 90-day plan. From 9.30am to 12.30pm. The Alliston Centre, Stroud Road, Cirencester. More here.
Thursday…
Gloucester Rugby Business Club | Meet Chris Boyd and Rob Burgess. Gloucester Rugby is due to stage the next meeting of its business club from 8am to 10am today (23 April). The club’s new technical director, Chris Boyd, and general manager (Rugby), Rob Burgess. More here.
Friday…
‘The One’ Women’s Network - Cheltenham: Due to take place at Circo Brasserie from 1030am till noon. Described a dynamic networking brunch for women in business. More here.
Worth knowing now…
💻 Food and drink producers, suppliers, farming and hospitality businesses are being summoned to a meeting at Cheltenham’s Hub8 MX on Thursday 21 May staged by Food For Thought CIC. Lorrin White, the former CEO of Bamboo Technology now head of marketing and development at HCR Law, will give a masterclass on how to use Microsoft 365, how to reclaim your time, increase revenue and efficiency. Subsidised by Made in Gloucestershire, The Growth Hub and Gloucestershire County Council. From 10am till noon. Tickets are £10. More here.
🏇 Willans LLP solicitors and Cheltenham Open Door, the Cheltenham-headquartered law firm’s nominated charity for the year, invite you to join them for an evening of fun, fundraising and friendly competition. The entry fee, which all goes to the charity, puts you and a team in with a chance of winning one or more of six recorded races. Price includes two drinks and pizza. The date has been moved from the end of February to 23 April. At The Bottle of Sauce, Cheltenham, from 6pm. More here.
The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to become a paid subscriber you’ll be part of this CIC too. You’ll help make us sustainable, be able to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led platform dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.
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Sale of luxury apartments brings hugely successful Cheltenham businessman into sight
A high-profile property sale in the centre of Cheltenham has revealed more than just a stunning building, it’s given us a rare glimpse of one of the town’s most successful property tycoons.
Earlier this month the upmarket property listings for Gloucestershire revealed a stunning Regency building in the centre of Cheltenham - and, hidden behind the announcement, one of the town’s most successful but otherwise reclusive property entrepreneurs.
Sometimes you hear rumours of businesspeople who have done exceptionally, who have been in the zeitgeist so long they seem immortal; myths fuelled by tantalising but vague stories of their triumphs, their privacy respectfully guarded by those close to them.
But when 47-49 The Promenade came on the market, there was a slim chance we could do our bit to colour in some of that shadowy space and learn a little more about one of them - as well as get a peak inside an incredible property.
After a few calls I managed to get my hands on a phone number, but the calls were being screened.
Messages were left on two answering services with no joy and I had all but given up.
But then, out of the blue, the phone rang and so began a pleasant game of tug and war, as I tried to get James Hawtin to divulge more about himself - was successful to a point - but found I walked away with more notes about the property on balance.
Clearly, never try outsmarting a business person whose career has been built on skilful negotiation to get what he wants!
Hawtin went into the building trade after leaving school in Enfield, north London. And like many who did so, he had to discover an aptitude for business too, especially if he wanted to thrive.
In 1976 he started Chantafine Ltd which would go on to become JJH Building Developments, a firm adept at spotting opportunities for development and house building. And as by then he’d also moved to Gloucestershire, its focus became the county and in particular Cheltenham.
That business he began to build ability proved to be exceptional, and his move into the property market well-timed.
He was also adept at spotting opportunities to invest the proceeds from the business too, shaping Cheltenham’s housing stock by day and investing in some of its regency gems as he went.
Which is a shortened version - the bit I’m allowed to tell you anyway - about how Hawtin came to own one of the most impressive portfolios of buildings in Cheltenham, which includes the aforementioned 47-49 The Promenade.
“It is a property we have owned for about 25 years,” he said, ever keen to stay off the topic of his life story and on the property he’s now trying to sell.
“We saw it as an investment opportunity. We had a very good tenant in there. That ran for about 15 years and then we carried on letting it to more businesses.”
The ‘we’ being himself as his wife and business partner, Mandy.
He long ago closed down JJH Building Developments, but those familiar with existing niche county builders – especially those that focus on high-end housing developments - may know the name Marcus Homes.
The Cheltenham firm based at the stunning Grade II* Listed Brandon House off Painswick Road, is run by his son, Marcus. Hawtin senior worked closely with him in the early days of that business too.
If you looked at James’s portfolio on paper (and he wouldn’t tell us the full extent of it - not for publication anyway), he and his wife Mandy could have retired long ago.
But as well as finding out he was good at business also found he thoroughly enjoyed it too. And why quit something you enjoy?
Which explains why, now in his seventies, he has continued to invest and see opportunity and act on it.
“When Covid (the Covid-19 pandemic) hit, we decided to change the premises to short-term rental. We spent a lot converting it. We did it to a very high spec,” he said. By then he would have been in his very late sixties.
“We decided to run it as a short term let business. We knew we were in a good spot and it has turned out we were, for all the reasons you would expect,” he said, modestly, as if it were all a happy accident.
“Cheltenham is an attractive town. It looks as good as anywhere. The location is right in the centre, there are the festivals here, shops and restaurants close by.
“We’ve always been at least 70 per cent occupied. We have had some people stay nearly 12 months and anywhere in between. We have had people from China, America, Australia – from all over the world.
“We could be more profitable, but we have chosen to invest in keeping everything to a very high standard.”
The inspiration for the name Neptune Apartments comes from The Neptune Fountain just a couple of hundred metres from the doors to the apartments.
Every apartment has underfloor heating, WiFi, smart televisions and luxury bedding, with a choice of goose feather or anti-allergy pillows. For eating in, relaxing mornings and chilled evenings, apartments come equipped with a Nespresso coffee machine, wine glasses, fridges and cooking equipment.
“But the other reason it has worked so well is that we have worked with great people, from local tradesmen to marketing and the people who look after the property for us.”
The main contractors and project managers were Terrascapes from Stroud. The interior design was done by Furnish and the electrical contractors were JSE Group, both businesses also based in Stroud. Skin and hygiene products for the rooms are provided by ANI from Cirencester and the apartments will be cleaned by Cheltenham Bright & Beautiful Cleaning Company.
Under the banner of Neptune Apartments Hawtin also signed up to be a member of Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce and a Gold Members of Visit Cheltenham.
But now the time, finally, has come for a change – at least with this particular property business.
Hawtin did not want to publicly divulge the rest of his portfolio, but it was clear he has no plans to completely step away from managing it all just yet.
“We plan to sell the freehold and it will have some tenants in there too,” he said, about 47-49 The Promenade.
The asking price is a cool two £2.25 million.
Any plans to run off to sunnier climes and spend wildly?
“We are staying in Cheltenham. I know lots of people who have lived here while working and could have moved, but when they retired have stayed here and they are quite happy.
“I’m not retiring. We will continue doing what we have been doing. We still have other properties to keep us busy.”