Member Article

Study Inn reaps rewards

A business born in Coventry is now proving a hit across the country.

Study Inn, which started in Coventry in 2009, has created 40 jobs in the city from 16-year-old apprentices to concierges in their 70s, by providing high standard student accommodation.

The company, which has been part of the Coventry MIPIM Partnership for three years, now has 632 rooms in Nottingham, Sheffield and its home city of Coventry.

They are all based in heart of the cities and are proving popular with local authorities because they bring vitality to city centres.

Study Inn is at MIPIM again in 2013 as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership speaking to several cities interested in attracting a Study Inn to their area.

Kieran Leahy, the Coventry-born director of Study Inn, said the concept developed in the city has proved equally appealing to parents and student as well as local authorities.

“We provide student accommodation that is similar to a hotel service – just without the food and beverage,” he said.

“The rooms are fitted out to a high standard and are all en-suite with private kitchenettes. The centres are very secure and they have communal facilities such as gyms, meeting rooms, lounges, laundries, fibre broadband and bicycle parks.

“They are let on an annual basis and include all bills. As all our centres are of the same high standard it takes out any uncertainty for parents and we have, as a result, proved particularly attractive to students coming from abroad or moving from a long distance away.”

The first Study Inn was opened in Trinity Street in 2009 and they are also now in Market Way and Corporation Street.

Leahy said: “We have had great support from Coventry City Council who appreciated that we would bring benefits to the city centre in terms of ‘in town’ shopping spend and providing an active and more secure environment in the evening.

“Offering quality bespoke student accommodation in the city centre means that students have easier access to the university and all local amenities without the need for transport.

“Bespoke accommodation in the city centre relieves pressure on out-of-town residential communities which are not ideally suited to large student numbers and frees up houses of multi occupation so that they can go back into the residential market.”

Study Inn first met with Nottingham City Council at MIPIM in 2011.

“We were introduced to a couple of locations which we followed up through that year,” Leahy said. “We completed on a transaction for one of them in time for MIPIM 2012 and it was open in time for the start of the academic year in September 2012.

“We had a similar experience with Sheffield City Council who we met at MIPIM 2012 and we opened in Sheffield in the same year.

“The plan is very much to roll this concept out to other cities. We have a background in development and hotel experience so this is very much a natural fit.

“Study Inn has been a Coventry MIPIM Partner for the last three years and the track record of successful developments in Coventry and the support from the City Council has led directly to the continued growth of the business in both Coventry and other UK cities.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Gilbert .