Meet the man who’s unlocking the door to a new commercial space in Lancaster city centre

SilverDoor has acquired the freehold of one of Lancaster’s most prestigious commercial office spaces: Charter House at 7 Dalton Square.

Occupying an enviable location in the Dalton Square conservation area, the three-storey building was previously occupied by HMRC and the NHS.

It will now be home to the 40-strong Lancaster office of the global serviced apartment agent, which has been based on Fenton Street since 2013.

Having purchased the freehold for a figure around £1.5m, SilverDoor will restore and retain the original external features of the impressive structure, which finished construction in 1993, while installing a state of the art, open-plan office space inside.

SilverDoor will move its existing Lancaster operation into the building by the end of the year, following a multi-million pound refurbishment.

Managing director Marcus Angell said of the deal, which is the culmination of a three-and-a-half year search for the right new home, "This will be the most significant commercial office development the city has had in years. The scandalous dearth of large, high quality office space in Lancaster city centre has been a personal bugbear of mine in the search for a space that does justice to our brand and our people.

"In Charter House, we have finally found a location that will, not only raise the bar for offices in the city, but will also demonstrate our confidence in the future of Lancaster as a great place to do business. It is our hope that other companies will follow suit and bring further development and employment opportunities to the city and the region as a whole.”

Following a record-breaking year of growth for SilverDoor in 2019, this new office in the city centre will enable the company to continue to expand its Lancaster team, which is home to Account Management, Finance, HR, IT and Marketing departments, and will complement the other four offices in London, Singapore, Denver and Hyderabad.

Marcus Angell is the founder, owner and Managing Director of SilverDoor, incorporating SilverDoor Apartments, Citybase Apartments, and Central London Apartments. He is also non-executive director of the Lancaster and District Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Lancaster Place Board initiative.

Originally from Preston, Marcus moved to London in early 2000 and established SilverDoor out of a spare bedroom in Chiswick. His background in property and construction led him to see the potential in the short let accommodation market. He sought to create an agency which represents serviced apartments without the hassle of fixed contracts and the inflexibilities of a typical short let.

Marcus has been leading the company ever since and has steered SilverDoor to its current position as the world’s leading independent serviced apartment company. The company now employs 150 people worldwide from offices in London, Lancaster, Singapore, Denver & Hyderabad.

SilverDoor Apartments is the world’s most trusted provider of serviced apartments for business travel. The award-winning firm counts many of the world’s largest corporations as clients; bringing an inventory of over 200,000 apartments into one easy to manage relationship, powered by industry-leading technology and the best account management in the sector.