Offers in excess of £1.5m invited for closing-down Northampton school

Offers in excess of £1.5 million are being invited for a Northampton school that is closing down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

St Peter's Independent School is being sold after the trustees decided to shut it down at the end of this academic year.

Courteney Donaldson, managing director of childcare and education at Christie & Co, who is handling the sale, said all options are open for the Lingswood Park site.

“St Peter’s Independent School occupies a beautiful position within a fully enclosed secure campus, beside parkland and a local nature reserve where children have enjoyed a peaceful and inspiring surrounding, over many decades," she said.

"The school offers extensive accommodation and offers much opportunity to a purchaser, seeking either to retain the exiting educational use, or for an alternative use subject to the necessary consents being obtained. Offers in excess of £1.5m are invited.”

St Peter's, which currently caters for children aged three to 16 years of age, was established in 1979 with a vision to make independent education more accessible to Northampton children.

But the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the school and the economy, which prompted the decision to close, announced last week.

Ms Donaldson added: "We wholly empathise with the stress and pressure that the situation surrounding the pandemic has placed on so many schools, their proprietors, teachers, students and parents alike. The decision to close a school is never taken lightly.

"The pandemic is increasingly having a profound impact on the financial sustainability of many independent schools across the UK. These are incredibly difficult times for many."