Serviced apartment company House of Fisher ramps up expansion

Berkshire-based serviced apartment company House of Fisher is ramping up its expansion plans with new openings in Reading, Bracknell and Newbury planned following the launch of its latest site in Basingstoke this month. 

The new House of Fisher Central Point serviced apartments will open next week in the centre of Basingstoke, providing large studio and one-bedroom apartments to business travellers.

Central Point is not the first site to be opened in Basingstoke - House of Fisher currently operates another three smaller sites - but its larger size makes it a more direct appeal to the corporate market, which chief executive John Fisher said was a major aim for the company moving forward. 

"We are quite a niche operator in that we are squarely aimed at the corporate market," he said. "We pick areas that are undergoing regeneration and we have a presence in areas like Basingstoke where there are a lot of technology companies. We position ourselves somewhere between a hotel and the better serviced apartments." 

Expansion plans

Central Point's opening precedes House of Fisher's next planned site - at 100 Kings Road in Reading. The 50-unit site will open next January and will be the company's largest yet. 

"100 Kings Road will be more of an aparthotel that will have a 24/7 reception, key-less entry and a health and fitness centre," said Fisher, "It marks the next phase of expansion for us and will be followed by another facility in Bracknell and a 20-unit facility in Newbury which is scheduled to open in 2015."

To aid the company's expansion plans, it has also made two new appointments - Rob Brown as business development director and Mel Little as general manager. 

House of Fisher started out in 1998 and has grown to 12 sites in Reading, Bracknell, Basingstoke, Camberley, Maidenhead and Farnborough. Fisher said the company is expected to offer 200 units across all open sites by the end of the year.