Sale of staff retreat set to fetch Standard Life more than £5m

BUILT in 1795 for a wealthy Edinburgh banker as a baronial home for his family of 15 children, Kingsmeadows House has more recently served as a country retreat for Standard Life staff to escape the hustle and bustle of corporate life.

Complete with salmon fishing rights on the River Tweed, a games room and around 20 acres of land to amble around, it has served as a popular short-stay holiday destination for employees.

Now after almost 60 years in the ownership of the Edinburgh-based insurance and pensions group – which originally bought it as a temporary office in case of nuclear attack – the stately home and its land on the edge of Peebles have been put on the market and could fetch more than £5 million.

Standard Life said the decision to sell the historic estate was taken after it became clear that only a small proportion of staff were taking advantage of a staff perk which enabled them to stay in the property at below market value.

“We will look to reinvest the proceeds to provide an improved working environment for as many employees as possible,” said a spokesman.

It is thought no decisions on exactly how the proceeds will be spent have yet been taken and would depend on how much is raised by the sale. While no figure has been put on the value of the property it is thought it will fetch several million pounds with the land in particular being in demand from developers.

Despite only being marketed for a few days, agents Rettie have already reported significant interest in the estate which is currently being marketed in lots but could also be sold as a single entity.

Will Scarlett, director of land, development and investment for agents Rettie in Edinburgh, said: “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing. There has been huge interest as it is very unusual to have something of this size so close to a town centre come on the market.”

The property is currently for sale in seven lots including the main house which is split into 11 self-catering flats over three floors.

A stable block, in use as seven holiday cottages with the cheapest at £225,000, is also for sale along with two detached residential houses.

There are also three plots of land together totalling more than ten acres and Scarlett said interest had already been expressed by residential developers and that there had been “cautious support” from planning authorities for limited development provided conditions were met. Other interest has come from care home operators and holiday accommodation providers.

A closing date, probably in early December, is expected to be set this week. “There are so many different combinations of who might bid for what that it is very difficult to say what the estate it will realise until bids are submitted,” said Scarlett.

A multi-million pound refurbishment of the estate had been carried out by Standard Life in the late 1990s with a formal reopening carried out by then managing director Scott Bell.

Kingsmeadows House was built at cost of £600 for Baronet Sir John Hay of Smithfield and Haystoun and his family. His second son Adam, also a banker, later extended the house and the estate.

It was bought in 1920 by Harry Mitchell of the Mitchell tobacco manufacturing family of Linlithgow and was later used as an emergency maternity hospital during the second world war.

According to the property’s listed building report, Standard Life bought it in 1952 as a temporary office “in case of nuclear attack” and also to store duplicates of key records.