ALUMNO GROUP GRADUATING WITH CLASS
STUDENT HOUSING IS A GROWING SEGMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY,
BUT ONE THAT CAN ALSO HAVE KNOCK-ON
GRADUATING WITH CLASS
PROJECT MANAGED BY: JOAO SEABRA
People enjoy complaining about students, but the truth is, they can be a boom to an area. Where students go, they bring a vitality and energy, and amenities and businesses pop up that can thrive from this and bring benefits to the wider community. Used carefully, student accommodation can be and has demonstrated itself to be a powerful tool for urban regeneration.
That is what the Alumno Group does. “It’s a good sector to be involved in, and we have developed a strong track record and specialism in that area,” says David Campbell, Managing Director of the Alumno Group. “We see student housing as a catalyst to drive positive change. Student housing brings wider benefits to existing communities. We’ve always gone the extra mile, driven by an ambition to ensure any new development brings a new narrative to the place.”
Campbell established the Alumno Group in 2008, and from the start, it was predominantly a student housing mixed-use developer.
“We have undertaken more than 30 projects to date, from Aberdeen down to the south coast,” Campbell tells us. “We work closely with universities as well as local authorities and other key stakeholders, effectively originating opportunities for new projects. We go out and find sites and take them through
the design and planning stage, carrying out and overseeing the development with a construction partner.”
Since its foundation, Alumno has built strong relationships with a number of large institutional investors and funders. It has gone on to develop new builds and tall buildings, but it has also been involved in a number of notable refurbishments.
Among those is the Park Hill estate, which houses students of Sheffield Hallam University. This historic building is not only a Grade II listed development, but the largest listed structure in Europe.
“It was a challenge because of the nature of the listing, and you could only understand what the building fabric was about once you started delving into it,” Campbell recalls. “That was challenging, particularly as we
David Campbell, Managing Director, Alumno Group.
Theatre Peckham, part of Former Southwark Town Hall redevelopment.
Photo credit: Matt Clayton
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PARTNERSHIPS THAT DELIVER
The partnership between Alumno and GMI Construction demonstrates how collaborative delivery can drive both economic and social impact across the UK’s key regional cities. Together, the two organisations have delivered student accommodation schemes in Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham to date, contributing to a new generation of high-quality urban living
With three developments completed and one currently live on site in Manchester, the partnership has delivered more than 900 student beds. Beyond physical delivery, these projects have created lasting value within their communities, supporting regeneration, enhancing local environments and generating meaningful social value
At the heart of this success is a shared commitment to delivering more than just buildings. For both Alumno and GMI Construction, each project is an opportunity to create places where people can live, learn and grow, while positively contributing to the wider urban fabric.
The successful delivery of Pershore Junction in Birmingham exemplifies this approach. As GMI Construction’s third project for Alumno, the scheme reflects a strong, established relationship built on trust, consistency and performance. Delivered on a constrained brownfield urban site, it demonstrates how early contractor involvement, detailed logistics planning and collaborative design management can unlock complex developments and bring forward commercially robust, design-led schemes.
For developers operating in the urban living sector, this highlights the importance of engaging an experienced delivery partner early in the process. By doing so, risk can be mitigated, programme certainty protected and design intent maintained from concept through to completion.
This approach is central to how GMI Construction operates across all sectors. Built on long-term partnerships and transparency, the business has developed a strong track record of repeat and negotiated work, reflecting the trust placed in its teams to consistently deliver. With over 40 years of experience, GMI Construction combines the capability of a national contractor with the agility and client focus of a regional business, operating across the North and Midlands from offices in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Stockton-on-Tees.
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delivered that during Covid. When we finished the building, it was summer 2020, so obviously, there was nobody to live in it! We weren’t really able to showcase it in any way. It took another year before we could open it properly, and then people began to get an appreciation for what a unique building it was.”
BUILDING PLACES
“A lot of our schemes are mixeduse,” Campbell says. “We have worked on complementary usage projects such as children’s theatres, start-up facilities, artists’ studios, and commercial spaces. We have a key emphasis on place making and putting regeneration and cultural rebirth at the heart of what we do. Student housing can be a great catalyst for that financially and culturally by bringing in investment.”
“We really want to drive place making and good design and an interest in the wider arts and culture scene,” explains Campbell. “We are always mindful of the history of a location and its back story, so look to generate an understanding of what makes each place different, ensuring all our schemes are bespoke and not overly homogenised within their surroundings.”
Interior, Pershore Junction, Birmingham.
Photo credit: Ross Jukes
It means that every Alumno Group project has its own distinct character and spirit.
As Campbell observes, “We have got these added layers to what we do, never really settling for what’s expected. Even beyond the planning stage to the very last drop before the students move in , we are looking to add extra dimensions. We’re not afraid to try new things.”
Campbell is a firm believer in the old adage that you are only as good as your last project, and so every new project Alumno engages in is a challenge to do better than before. To achieve this, the Group invests heavily in its key relationships with contracting partners and suppliers.
“When you’ve been in multiple projects together and solved multiple problems together, that helps you build strong and sustainable relationships,” he says.
A SCHEDULE WITH STAKES
Those relationships are particularly important when unexpected obstacles occur.
“Last year in Bath, we had a project where the original contractor went bust within one month of starting on site,” Campbell tells us. “We lost a year, but we managed to rejig the project’s finances. We had an understanding Funder who we have worked with on multiple projects previously and finished the project in 2025, and in the
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Exterior shot, Hollis Wharf, Bath. Photo credit: Ben Dale
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end, it was a great building and reaffirmed the persistence and commitment from everyone to make it work.”
Of course, no construction project likes seeing its timeline slip, but with student housing the academic year makes the schedule particularly set in stone. If the residency is not ready to move into by September, it will be another year before anyone can move in.
“Having done so many projects, we have an inherent resolve and resilience,” says Campbell. “We have strong, trusted relationships with our contractors and through the team that helps us get through challenges and make the right decision at the right time.”
With the time-sensitive and often challenge-filled nature of these projects, however, Campbell admits that sometimes even he misses just how much the Group achieves on a regular basis.
“You’re so focused on problem solving, it takes a while to be able to stand back and appreciate what it’s all about,” he says.
For Campbell, it ultimately comes down to the people. “It really is a people business,” he says. “We have worked with people we’ve got on with, who did a great job, and if they move to another business, we follow them. Other times, we see someone’s work, think it looks good and get in touch with them. What we want are shared ideals and shared ideas about what is good and bad. We are a very design-driven business, and a lot of the time, if someone’s got the same taste or design aesthetic as we do, there’s something there. There’s no real science to it.”
HOMES FOR EVERY WALLET
As big and ambitious as these projects are, Campbell also readily recognises that right now, for people in general and students in particular, affordability is an important topic.
“What affordable means is open to debate, but we drive value for money with an ability to provide a spectrum of rents,” Campbell tells us. “We want our project to be truly accessible to a varied collective of students.”
That variety will be reflected in the projects Campbell looks to bring forward. When we speak with him, he is optimistic about opportunities going forward and has identified new locations to focus on.
“The ambition is that the next projects will take us up a notch in terms of design. There’s a good opportunity at the moment to really strive to see if we can develop the product a bit more without sacrificing quality and design, delivering bedrooms and facilities that people can afford and want to live in.”
Beyond that, Campbell wants to broaden the accepted idea of what purpose-built student accommodation can be.
“There’s a lot that can be done and improved on. We are looking at evolving our skills into a more shared living-like concept, particularly in Central London,” Campbell shares. “We are looking at a graduate housing model one step beyond typical purposebuilt student housing. It is a model for graduates and young professionals who still want to enjoy that kind of close-knit, shared community.”
Interior shot of common room, Hollis Wharf, Bath.
Photo credit: Ben Dale
Student room Alscot Road, Bermondsey, London.
Photo credit: Ben Dale
