Empiric Student Property

Last updated

Empiric Student Property plc
Company type Public
LSE:  ESP
Industry Property investment
Founded2014;12 years ago (2014)
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
England
Key people
Mark Pain (Chairman)
Duncan Garood (CEO)
RevenueIncrease2.svg £84.2 million (2024) [1]
Decrease2.svg £54.4 million (2024) [1]
Decrease2.svg £34.4 million (2024) [1]
Website www.empiric.co.uk

Empiric Student Property plc is a British company providing student accommodation. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by Unite Group in January 2026.

Contents

History

The company was established by Paul Hadaway and Tim Attlee as London Cornwall Student REIT plc in February 2014. It changed its name to Empiric Student Property plc in March 2014. [2] The first CEO was Paul Hadaway, but after incurring significant extra costs involved with establishing its "Hello Student" management and letting platform, [3] Hadaway stood down and the board instigated a major strategic review, [4] with steps being taken to bring costs under control. [5]

Subsequent management changes involved Attlee being appointed CEO in November 2018, [6] and then Duncan Garrood taking over in June 2020. [7] Later that year, the company resolved to keep costs under control by implementing a strategy of clustering its properties so that they are in "close proximity to top-tier universities". [8] This necessitated significant disposals of properties which did not meet the new criteria in 2021. [9]

In August 2025, it was announced that Unite Group would buy Empiric Student Property in a deal worth £634 million. [10] The scheme of arrangement was approved by the court and became effective on 27 January 2026. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Results 2024" (PDF). Empiric Student Property. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "Empiric Student Property plc". Companies House. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Empiric Student Property CEO makes case for new London acquisitions". S&P Global. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Tapping students for cash". Money Week. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "Empiric Student Property dives on dividend cut". Citywire. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "Attlee takes the reins at Empiric". Property Week. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "Duncan Garrood appointed new chief executive of Empiric Student Property". Property Week. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Empiric Student Property more than doubles profit in a testing 2022". Investors Chronicle. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "'Hello Student' says goodbye to unwanted properties as Empiric's new broom sweeps in". Citywire. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "UK's Unite Group to buy Empiric Student Property in a $860 million deal". Reuters. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "Scheme of arrangement for Unite Group's £723m takeover of FTSE 250 company becomes effective". Insider Media. 27 January 2026. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
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