The site’s been cleared, and work on the DeVere Hotel and Urban Resort at Crewe Toll will soon be underway.
The company’s Chief Executive Robert Cook said:
“Demolitions have started in preparation for building to commence on our Edinburgh site – a new Village Urban Resort at Crewe Toll on the site of the old Telford College. It will have 120 bedrooms and 20,000 sq ft of leisure including a 20m pool, full cardio gym and studios for spinning and pilates.
“We’ll have a seven bedroom spa called Viva Urban Spa and a full-blown meetings and events facility with the ability to do weddings for up to 200 people. The food and beverage element will include Starbucks and a chop and ale house, which is fundamentally a large gastro pub with a sports element (plasma screens), counter dining and a theatre kitchen.”
The Crewe Toll development will be De Vere’s first in Scotland. Mr Cook went on: “Edinburgh is without doubt one of the strongest markets in the UK. It’s a 52 weeks of the year market with very busy summers and good corporate business. Our analysis of the particular location we chose showed a need for a health and fitness facility for 3,500 to 4,000 members, and making our food and beverage work will be a particular side of that.
“Typically 60% of our business comes from within a three-mile radius of the hotel. We’re in a strong position with the Western General Hospital up the road and it’s a good base to create something for the community around the hotel.”
The Urban Resort on Crewe Road South will open next year.
Police Scotland is appealing for witnesses following a suspicious incident in North Edinburgh.
Two 16-year-old girls were walking north along Telford Drive towards Granton at around 7.20pm on Friday (5 July) when a male approached them as they reached the bridge crossing Crewe Road North. The male engaged the girls in conversation before claiming they owed him money.
Both girls attempted to walk away from the suspect, who continued to follow them demanding money. The victims sought assistance from a young couple pushing a buggy and the male walked off along the walkway.
The suspect is described as white, between 20 and 40-years-old, tall and very skinny with a gaunt face. He was wearing a baseball cap, dark zip up, dark tracksuit bottoms and spoke with a local, but slurred accent.
A male has currently been detained and is assisting officers with their enquiries, but anyone with information relevant to this investigation is asked to come forward.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Neither girl knew this male and they were very distressed when he began following them, demanding money. We are keen to speak with anyone who was in or around Crewe Road North on Friday evening and remembers seeing anything suspicious. In particular, we would like to trace the young couple the victims spoke to and would ask them to contact police immediately.”
Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Selex ES, a Finmeccanica Company, will celebrate 25 years of collaboration with the Edinburgh International Science Festival (EISF) next month – and the Crewe Toll-based company will once again provide stimulating activities to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.
On April 3, John Innes, Head of Business Innovation for Selex ES, will be participating in a panel discussion at EISF which will explore potential applications of bioengineering in a range of settings from the medical to the industrial and scientific.
Selex ES will also be offering children the chance to build their own robot in a workshop, then race their creation round an obstacle course at their Rampaging Chariots Display at the City Arts Centre. This year the theme of the children’s robot design competition will chime with that of the panel discussion, as children will be asked to look at the biological sensors present in the animal kingdom and then apply these sensors to the design of their robots to improve their capability.
Alastair Morrison, SVP, Radar and Advanced Targeting said: “Selex ES is delighted to support the Science Festival and generate an interest in engineering through our Rampaging Chariots competition.”
Dr Simon Gage, Director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, said “Selex ES have been an invaluable supporter of the Science Festival for all 25 years of our existence and their involvement this year spans both the family and the adult programme, offering intellectual stimulation and challenges for all ages.”
Organisers expressed satisfaction at the levels of interest shown during two consultations exhibiting the De Vere Hotels group’s plans to build a new ‘Village Urban Resort’ at Crewe Toll. De Vere representatives displayed plans at Morrison’s on Ferry Road on Friday afternoon and again at the site of the proposed development on Saturday and said that the public reaction was ‘very positive’.
De Vere’s plans for the former World Markets WM Helix House building include a 120 bedroom hotel, a health and fitness club including a 20m indoor pool, a restaurant and bar and a Starbucks Coffee House – all under one roof. A customer and guest parking area for up to 270 vehicles is also included in the plans.
De Vere is likely to apply for planning permission next month and, if succesful, the Village Urban Resort would open in 2014.
Is a ‘Village Urban Resort’ a good thing for the area? Is Crewe Toll the right place? Would you use it? Let us know!
Hotel group De Vere are offering local residents an opportunity to see plans and to comment on proposals for a new ‘village urban resort’ at Crewe Toll.
North elevation
De Vere will be holding two public consultation events on the proposals in advance of submitting a formal planning application. These will be held at the Morrisons store on Pilton Drive from 1400 until 1800 on Friday 7 September and at Helix House itself between 1000 and 1300 on Saturday 8 September.
Last week, plans were unveiled for a new £20m hotel with business and leisure facilities on the site of the empty office building at Crewe Toll – which will create approximately 130 new jobs.
Earlier this year the De Vere Group unveiled plans to open 15 new Village Urban Resorts to add to the existing two dozen it successfully operates across the UK. The North Edinburgh proposal includes a 120 bedroom hotel, a health and fitness club (including a 20m indoor pool); business and conference facilities; a restaurant, bar; and a Starbucks Coffee House.
Robert Cook, Chief Executive of De Vere Village Urban Resorts said: “De Vere is delighted to announce the selection of Edinburgh as a location for a new Village Urban Resort. Edinburgh is a high priority location for us and we are very excited to be bringing this concept to the city.
“The selected site is prominently located in north Edinburgh – the redundant office building on site, Helix House, has been vacant for many years and is becoming something of an eyesore. Our new Edinburgh Village Urban Resort will be a positive landmark building in this prominent location.”
A customer and guest car parking area with 270 car parking spaces will also be included within the development.
Ian Kettlewell, Associate Director at national planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners, which is guiding the scheme through the planning process, said: “This exciting new development will regenerate an important and prominent site; removing a building which has been vacant for a number of years. The new Village Urban Resort will create 120 new jobs, which will be accessible to local residents, offering significant training opportunities and provide a boost to the local economy, as well as further jobs during the construction phase. This development will not just provide a hotel for visitors to Edinburgh, De Vere Village Urban Resorts are high quality, attractive leisure destinations for business users, leisure travellers and the local community.”
The site is located on a major route in north Edinburgh with good linkages to Leith and the city centre and as such the urban resort will benefit from excellent transport links by public transport, car, cycle and on foot.
Areas of public realm comprising high quality hard and soft landscaping will be provided, along with clearly-demarcated pedestrian walkways to ensure safe and easy movement onto, and throughout, the development.
Should planning permission be granted, it is anticipated that construction would start next year with the new De Vere Village Urban Resort opening to the public in 2014.
Those pre-planning application public consultation details again: Morrisons store on Pilton Drive from 2 – 6pm this Friday (7 September) and at Helix House itself between 10am and 1pm on Saturday (8 September).
De Vere are keen to raise awareness of its plans and provide an opportunity for public comments.
THE owners of the Cameron House resort on the banks of Loch Lomond have unveiled plans for a multi-million pound new development in North Edinburgh.
About 120 jobs will be created when the De Vere Group opens its first venture in the capital on the site of an empty office block at Crewe Toll.
An Artists impression of how the new site will look.
It will be a major boost for the city’s tourism industry, which has seen a number of major hotel schemes either delayed or put on hold in recent years.
The £20 million De Vere development will feature a 120-room hotel, a health and leisure complex and a conference centre. Facilities will include a 20-metre swimming pool, a restaurant, bar and Starbucks cafe.
The company is asking Edinburgh City Council for permission to build 270 parking spaces at the site due to its expected popularity.
It will be one of 15 new “village urban resorts” the company is planning to add to its 63 existing sites across Britain.
The site at Crewe Toll, will replace Helix House, an office complex that dates back to 1987 but has been lying empty for several years.
Robert Cook, chief executive of De Vere Village Urban Resorts, said: “Edinburgh is a high- priority location for us and we are very excited to be bringing this concept to the city.
The building is currently empty and has been for some time. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
“The selected site is prominently located in North Edinburgh. The redundant office building on site, Helix House, has been vacant for many years and is becoming something of an eyesore.
“Our new Edinburgh village urban resort will be a positive landmark building in this prominent location.”
De Vere has already begun talks with the city council about the development, set to be next to the Edinburgh headquarters of finance firm State Street.
Local Councillor Iain Whyte said “”The De Vere Group proposal for a hotel at Crewe Toll is a welcome investment in the area that should bring local jobs and will reuse a site that is currently empty. It could make a major impact and revitalise a rather sterile corner of the ward adjacent to the roundabout.
I am conscious that there is the possibility of concerns for nearby residents as a hotel is likely to require a liquor license. I very much hope that De Vere will consult local people properly to ensure that anypotential concerns are addresed in advance.”
Ian Kettlewell, associate director of planning consultants Nathaniel Lichfield, said: “This exciting new development will regenerate an important and prominent site, removing a building that has been vacant for a number of years.
“The new village urban resort will create 120 new jobs, offering significant training opportunities and boost to the local economy, as well as further jobs during the construction phase,”
Ward Councillor Gavin Barrie said “This appears at first sight to be a welcome proposal to develop a sites here currently a vacant and decaying building stands but proper cognisance of the wishes and thoughts of the local community must besought before any decisions are made.”
Major hotel projects delayed in Edinburgh in recent years include Caltongate, near Waverley Station, one earmarked for a site next to Haymarket Station, the former Royal High School and the site of the St James Centre.
It’s forty years since State Street moved to the UK, and the corporation’s 750 Edinburgh staff will celebrate at Crewe Toll today with a giant barbecue attended by Olympic silver medallist Roger Black.
Sate Street purchased Deutsche Bank’s securities division and moved into the 146,000 sq. ft. Crewe Toll complex in 2003, and since then the banking giant has played a significant role in supporting local community initiatives, both through staff volunteering and through the organisation’s Foundation Community Support programme.
Among the many local organisations with particular reason to wish their Crewe Toll neighbours a happy birthday are Stepping Stones, North Edinburgh Childcare, Oaklands School, PROP Stress Centre, Drylaw Rainbow Club and Craigroyston Community High School – and there are more.
Speaking ahead of today’s celebrations (fingers crossed for a little sunshine!) State Street’s senior vice-president Jeanette Patrizio said: “This is a time to feel a little more optimistic, and to share that with people. It is up to us as business leaders to remind people that it is not all doom and gloom.”
SELEX Galileo marked 60 years involvement in airborne fire control radar with a unique celebration event and the publication of a fully illustrated book at last week’s Farnborough Airshow.
It was in 1952 that Ferranti – one of the corporate antecedents to what is today SELEX Galileo – began initial engineering studies and technology development work at its site in Crewe Toll, Edinburgh, for the airborne intercept radar that would eventually equip the RAF’s Lightning interceptor.
Paying tribute to its rich UK-Italian heritage in air-to-air and air-to-surface radar technology, the company exhibited 17 radar sets – ranging from the AI.23 system equipping the RAF’s Lightning fighter to its latest solid-state active electronic scanning array (AESA) products – at a reception to launch ‘Looking Forward: 60 Years of Fire Control Radar’.
Entering RAF service in 1960, the AI.23 was the world’s first high-power fighter radar to employ the monopulse technique. Its development was a huge engineering challenge, made doubly difficult by the absence of any established component supply base. Virtually everything from the smallest piece parts upwards had to be designed and built from scratch. Engineers pioneered the use of numerically-controlled milling techniques to machine the precisely matched waveguide system from a solid block of aluminium.
AI.23 laid the foundations for a high technology business that came to excel in the realm of fire control radar. Products such as Blue Parrot, Blue Fox and Blue Vixen went on to become part of the lexicon of British post-war military aviation.
In Italy, the story unfolded in the 1960s when FIAR – another of SELEX Galileo’s forebears – undertook the license build of the North American Autonetics NASARR radar to equip the Italian Air Force’s F-104G Starfighter interceptor. The company later produced the much evolved R-21G/M1 Setter radar, a solid-state evolution of NASARR conferring the updated F-104 ASA with a true look-down/shoot-down capability.
Later, FIAR had the vision to invest in the development of a family of lightweight pulse- multi-mode fire control radars, identifying the growing worldwide demand for fighter avionics upgrades. This gave rise to the best-selling GRIFO family, still a leader in its market with more than 450 systems sold and in operations on many different platforms.
Building on this heritage of success, SELEX Galileo has gone on to develop the modular Vixen family of affordable, high performance multi-mode AESA radars. It is also part of the multinational Euro radar consortium developing the next-generation CAPTOR-E radar for the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Speaking at the Farnborough event, Fabrizio Giulianini, CEO of SELEX Galileo said: “I am honoured to be here today representing years of outstanding individual, industrial and technological excellence. For many years armed forces around the world have relied on our radar to support airborne missions and come home safe. The United Kingdom and Italy have looked at SELEX Galileo, and all its previous incarnations, as the trusted partner to deliver the capability edge to counter enemies and threats.”
“Building on a continuous evolution of technology and techniques, SELEX Galileo today stands as the cornerstone of Europe’s sovereign capability in airborne fire control radar,” said Alastair Morrison, SVP Radar and Advanced Targeting. “The company has brought together the complementary experience, knowledge and lines of business from Italy and the UK to create a world-class airborne radar capability uniquely positioned to meet the needs of a diverse and demanding global customer base.”
