The Ironworks building in Inverness was never sold to the company behind the development of a hotel on the site, official documents reveal.
In 2022, local councillors approved controversial plans to demolish the beloved Academy Street music venue to make way for a hotel.
Bricks Group secured planning permission to replace the Ironworks with a 155-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel as part of a £30 million project.
The developer, owned by Hong-Kong based company Bricks Capital Limited, was granted planning permission on June 8, 2023.
Nearly two years later, there has been no sign of the demolition, with the former music venue slowly deteriorating on the Highland Capital’s main street.
Inverness building was never sold to developer
The iconic building was acquired in 2016 by Upland Properties Limited, an Aviemore-based company controlled by well-known Inverness businessman David Cameron.
Mr Cameron told the Inverness Courier in August 2023 that the sale of the building would complete “within a couple of weeks.”
However, according to official documents, the sale of the site to Bricks Group never took place, the Press and Journal can reveal.
A Scottish Land Register document acquired by The P&J on January 8, 2025 shows Upland Properties Limited is still the owner of the Academy Street site.
A spokesperson for the Register said: “We’ve checked and there are no pending applications regarding a change of ownership for that property.
“All applications submitted to Registers of Scotland are entered onto the register on the day we receive them.
“A sale may have taken place, and the solicitor might not yet have submitted the application, but there is nothing on our records to indicate that a sale has taken place.”
David Cameron quizzed on Ironworks Inverness building
On January 14, the P&J phoned David Cameron and asked him if Upland was still the owner of the building.
He said: “No.”
When we pointed out to him that according to the official register it still was, he replied:
“If you’re telling me, you know better than me, so you just do what you want.
“You do what you want, you seem to know everything, on you go.”
He then hung up.
Since then, the Press and Journal has made multiple requests for comment from Upland and David Cameron. They have all been unsuccessful.
What’s happening to the Inverness Ironworks is a ‘mystery’
Inverness councillor Isabelle MacKenzie has criticised the lack of communication regarding the Ironworks development.
She said: “It is a mystery as to what is happening to this site. It is a prominent part of the Academy St area.
“It would be good to have an update as to what is happening.
“The building is lying empty. Would it be able to have a short-term lease by the landlord for some continuing use by community groups?”
In an attempt to track down the mysterious Bricks organisation, The Press and Journal has investigated the operation.
Bricks Group: Multiple companies with little activity
Bricks Group is owned by Hong Kong-based company Bricks Capital Limited, whose ultimate controlling party is Peter Prickett.
The last accounts filed for Bricks Group Holdings Limited, for the year ending December 31, 2022, show a pre-tax loss of £44.8m.
During the 2022 financial year, the company’s net liabilities increased from £31.3m to £66.2m.
According to Companies House, the company has its 2023 accounts overdue.
In 2022, Bricks Group had 85 subcompanies or indirect undertakings.
As of last week, 55 of them had their accounts overdue, two had gone into liquidation and seven others are now dissolved.
The company set up four direct undertakings for the Inverness development:
- 1. Bricks Inverness Capital Limited
It has its accounts and confirmation statement overdue and had an active proposal to strike off until last month.
The last accounts submitted in 2022 showed a profit vs loss account interest of -£37,720.
- 2. Bricks Inverness Feuhold Limited:
It has its confirmation statements overdue and had an active proposal to strike off suspended last month.
- 3. Bricks Inverness Opco Limited:
It also has its confirmation statement overdue and an active proposal to strike off.
If nothing changed, the company would be dissolved by February 17, 2025.
- 4. Inverness Propco Limited
It has both accounts and confirmation statement overdue.
Where is Bricks Group? Outdated website and changes of address
Repeated attempts to contact the company via phone or email have been unsuccessful throughout the years.
The P&J managed to eventually get a response from the company via LinkedIn in November 2024, stating that the “Courtyard by Marriott project is still on hold due to market conditions.”
The company’s website was down for several weeks at the end of last year and was back again after we pointed it out to them.
The website indicates its address is Ground Floor 8-9 Bulstrode Place, Marylebone, London.
However, the Press and Journal can reveal that this office has been emptied.
Two weeks ago, a change of address document was uploaded by the company on Companies House to 24/25 the Shard London Bridge Street London Greater London SE1 9SG.
The new address belongs to Fora, a company hiring private office spaces.
Attempts to contact Bricks
The P&J contacted Fora to confirm if Bricks Group had moved to the Shard.
A spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, we do not share any customer information with third parties.”
Meanwhile, on its LinkedIn page, the Group shows its Hong Kong address as the Kinwick Centre on 32 Hollywood Road, a multi-storey office building.
The P&J managed to get a hold of the building management office, who confirmed that Bricks Capital was not in the building.
We then got access to an official document from Icris, the equivalent to Companies House in Hong Kong.
This states that Bricks Capital changed its address from the Kinwick Centre to another multi-storey building at 299 Queen’s Road Central in 2021.
We have not been able to confirm if the company is in fact at this address.
What would you like to see happen with the Ironworks building in Inverness? Let us know in the comments below.
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