Inside Man Utd legends Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville’s £750-a-night Stock Exchange Hotel with luxury penthouse, roof terrace and kitchen run by Tom Kerridge
MANCHESTER UNITED legends Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs had brilliant careers on the pitch - but they're having even better ones off of it.
The pair revealed on Thursday that their latest business venture, the luxury Stock Exchange Hotel, is set to open on November 15.
United pair Neville and Giggs bought one of Manchester's most historic buildings seven years ago for £1.5million as part of a major redevelopment scheme.
The Grade II-listed Stock Exchange, built in 1906, will now open its doors to the public for the first time since the 1970s - after an investment of around £20MILLION.
Located in central Manchester, the boutique hotel will be one of just three five-star hotels in the city and will offer 40 rooms, including two signature suits and an impressive 3,500 sq ft penthouse residence.
Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, who has two Michelin stars, will run the kitchen.
"Manchester will always have one Stock Exchange and we have it here.
"The trading floor will always be the trading floor of the Stock Exchange and all we have to do is guard it and make sure it’s loved and maintained for Mancunians but also people visiting Manchester for the next 100 years.
"We’ve brought this building back to life and we’re very proud of that."
Plans for the building had changed over the years with plans for 30 or 40 rooms.
Development of the hotel also slowed when Neville allowed a group of 50 rough sleepers to stay in the hotel for five months over one winter rather than kick them out.
He revealed at the time that the move cost him around £150,000 but helped 40 of those people get rehoused.
Neville added that the hotel had been a "personal aspiration"; and the decision-making process was based on the type of places he and Giggs enjoy when they travel.
Hotelier Winston Zahra, who joined Neville and Giggs' GG Hospitality as CEO 15 months ago, added: "We’re proud of the way the building now looks internally and it’s always looked fantastic externally.
"We now feel the interior matches the quality and heritage of the unique nature of the exterior of the building.
"One of the main changes we made was to the colour palette as we want it to be light and welcoming so it opens the building up even more.
"When you look at the quality of the materials, the biggest change is that they’re all being built by crafts people using old methods so the quality of them is solid.
"With everything we are doing we are respecting the heritage of the building."
Neville joked that none of the Grade II-listed buildings he has worked on have been easy.
"What I would say though, they give you the most pleasure because when they are refurbished and brought back to life, it’s really something," he said.
Neville and Giggs also own Hotel Football in Manchester and Cafe Football in Stratford, London.
Those two, plus other members of Manchester United's 'Class of 92', are also behind University Academy 92, a higher education institution in Old Trafford, and just saw their football club, Salford City, promoted to League Two.