AN ENTREPRENEUR who made a fortune converting Lancashire mills has completed a é350m property deal.

Tim Knowles, the man behind Chorley's Botany Bay retail scheme and other mill conversions throughout the region, has bought a UK property portfolio for his new business, called First Investment.

The deal has grown its property investment portfolio to more than é500m and it now operates six million sq ft of office, industrial and retail sites.

The deal covers 349 properties across Bolton, central London, Brentford, Tunbridge Wells, Swindon, North Wales, South Wales, the Midlands and the Wirral.

Established

The most prominent is the 60,000 sq ft Phoenix House in London EC4, a prime City location. The building changed hands for close to é20m.

First Investments, which is based in Chorley, was established last year and is part of the TJK Group.

The group also operates Botany Bay and Bygone Times in Chorley, which are retail and leisure attractions.

Mr Knowles said his ambition is to build the group's property investment holdings to more than é1bn.

"The scale and spread of this deal made it a complex one to structure. However, we have an experienced in-house team and the ability to move quickly to seize good opportunities.

"We are currently putting together some sizeable deals and have the appetite for more significant asset management opportunities, wherever those are available in the UK."

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