Specialist investor Bridges Ventures has recently had a new investor purchase a bid for a prominent office and retail building based in central Leeds, the investor and successful entrepreneur has come a long way from his roots as an Army Officer after a string of clever investments, patience and hard work have landed him the opportunity to purchase the Airedale House on Albion Street in Leeds for £6.6m.

Graham Goodwin has successfully purchased the 41,432 sq ft property on Albion Street, the office building sits in the heart of the city’s commercial district and was originally acquired by Bridges for £4m in 2013 via its first Bridges Sustainable Property Fund.

The Airdale House has undergone an environmentally-led refurbishment and has been multi-let to a list of tenants including highstreet brands and services with companies such as Sally Salon Services, Slaters Menswear, Optical Express and The Prince’s Trust included.

The building has now been bought by GM Legato Property, an investment company set up by Yorkshire-based investor Graham Goodwin. Who formed a successful recruitment business in 2002. The company now has offices across the UK based in Leeds, Birmingham and London. The company had sales of £38m and an EBITDA of £5.4 by the time it sold it’s management in 2014 in a private-equity buyout.

The former British Army officer toured The Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland and Germany now has a very different life as a director of Ling Bob a developer business specialising in listed buildings.

Bridges was advised by CBRE, whilst Knight Frank acted on behalf of GM Legato Property. Lloyds Banking Group provided the debt required to support the investment. Guy Bowden, parter at Bridges Ventures stated that the investment in Airedale House was an illustration of how positive societal impact and things like commercial value growth can go hand in hand.