Nicholas Holdings

The business has been involved in property development and investment for over nearly 100 years. Albert Ephraim Nicholas was the town blacksmith in Enfield, who branched into coffin making and carpentry after WW1. His son Albert Cecil Nicholas, incorporated the firm then expanded into building and contracting and started developing residential prop... erty in a small way. Alan Hugh Nicholas, Albert's son, expanded the company further, giving up contracting work and concentrating solely on development of residential and commercial property with his two brothers. Until 1986 it was a far larger business also incorporating two hotels (built, owned and run in-house). In 1986 a demerger was undertaken and the business split between the three brothers. Alan retained what was essentially the house-building and development business, his two brothers the hotel in Enfield and most investment properties. Lloyds have been our sole bankers since the start. Alan is still involved day to day. His son Andrew has an estate management degree and experience working for a firm of Chartered Surveyors in the West End and a very large regional developer His other son, Robert is a fully qualified architect. Historically we have used expertise and local knowledge to acquire land and assemble sites; gain planning permission and develop for ourselves. It is not uncommon for a site to take 5 or 10 years to assemble. Alternatively we may buy land with a current planning consent, which we believe we can improve upon and thus increase its value. We rarely, if ever, buy a site that is "ready to go" and then implement the planning permission ourselves. Generally speaking we look to develop residential schemes in the order of 1-30 units. Larger schemes have included: 100 bedroom hotel - The Royal Chace in Enfield. 32 Bedroom hotel and 14 timeshare apartments in Brockenhurst, Hampshire - Rhinefield House Hotel 100 flats - Dunraven Drive, Enfield Bliss Tweed Mill- Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire - planning brief agreed with LA and scheme sold on 42 ...Read More