The Ability Group was founded in 1996 by Andreas Panayiotou, who has led the Group as Chairman and CEO ever since. The son of Cypriot immigrants, Andreas was born in East London. His life took a dramatic turn when he decided to abandon a career in professional boxing, to help run his parents’ Launderettes. Soon after joining the business, Andreas put in place a strategy to move the company into Property Development and ‘The Ability Group’ was born.

Andreas saw the growth potential of the East London residential market. So using his existing knowledge of the area, focused on acquiring unwanted or dilapidated buildings. This often allowed the company to buy-and-build properties at between £100 and £200 per square foot. Today, finding properties in the same areas at under £900 per square foot, is a huge challenge. As the markets have grown so much over the years, mirrored by the growth of The Ability Group.

What started out as the conversion of small apartments in un-fashionable areas of London such as Islington, Hackney and Clerkenwell. Became a property empire that now owned in access of 7,000 residential units and was valued at over £1bn. Today, the group remains active in the residential property market where its development arm, ‘Ability Developments’, has a workforce of over 800 people. Who have built projects of over 1 million square feet in Central London. However, it has also expanded into the leisure arena through its acquisition and development of Hotels, Commercial, Retail and Office properties. Unlike the majority of developers, Andreas adopted a long-term strategy of retaining ownership of the properties he built, rather than simply, selling them at attractive prices. He thereby pioneered the concept of ‘Build to Let’ in the London residential market and built a strong and stable business that has gone from strength to strength.

Driven by the energy of its management, The Ability Group grew at a phenomenal rate and in 2000 entered a new phase. By initiating its first New Build projects on the Kingsland Road in East London. By 2002, the group was developing new apartment complexes in Dalston Lane and Central Street in Islington, and had built over 1,000 new apartments and 50 B1 Retail units.

In the last few years the group has recently completed Ability Place in Millharbour, Ability Central in Limeharbour and Ability Parkview on Baker Street. These properties will add a further 900 apartments to the group’s portfolio. The group also acquired a unique 40,000 square foot development property. Situated on The Bishop’s Avenue in Hampstead, that sits on two acres of land. Under the group’s ambitious re-development plans this property will set new standards of luxury for a single house in the capital. It is expected to sell for £100 million commanding one of the highest price ever paid for a UK residential property.

More recently the group has begun to diversify its portfolio, to include Commercial property, such as Hotels, Offices and Retail properties. Whilst also widening its geographic scope, by acquiring seven Retail Centres throughout Europe. Thereby quickly establishing itself as a major player, within the Hospitality business.

This latest venture has been entirely financed by The Ability Group, after the sale of 5,000 apartments in Central London. One portfolio of properties, of which was sold to Grainger for £205 million in 2006.

Ability has developed close relationships with Hotel Operators. So therefore is looking to acquire both vacant Hotels, to operate under newly installed management, and existing Hotels, that would complement its current portfolio. It is particularly interested in opportunities that enable it to employ its Development and Hotel expertise simultaneously. The group plans to acquire other Commercial properties, particularly Hotels, in International markets including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and the United States. It intends to increase the value of its portfolio to over £3 billion by 2020.

The Commercial portfolio began with the acquisition of 7 Shopping Centres in Germany, financed by a €100 million credit line from Hypo Real Estate Bank. Ability then acquired its first Hotel, the Hilton Liverpool, from Grosvenor. This is the first five star Hotel in Liverpool, part of the £1 billion re-generation scheme run by Grosvenor, one of the largest property Companies in the UK. During 2007 the group acquired the Cambridge Garden House Hotel in the heart of Cambridge, from Goldman Sachs. The Hotel features 122 rooms and Ability are planning to develop an extra 58 rooms. This would increase the market share to 32% of the 4 Star Hotels market in Cambridge. Acquiring the Dunblane Hydro Hotel from Starwood Capital and completed a £10 million facelift for the 206 bedroom Hotel. As well as re-positioning and re-branding the Hotel, within the luxury Hoteliers market. The Hotel portfolio also contains the Waldorf Astoria London Syon Park, Club Med Kamarina, Premier Inn Glasgow and in the development stage the Hampton by Hilton Luton.

Over the years, The Ability Group has also become involved in the acquisition, management and charter of luxury Aircraft and Yachts. The next addition to Ability’s fleet will be a Challenger 300. Which, with its transatlantic range, advanced avionics and sumptuous interior, represents the pinnacle of excellence in business Aviation. This will sit alongside another member of the Ability family, the Mangusta 130, a 40 metre Sports Yacht, acquired in 2007 and available to charter across the Mediterranean.