The business planning to turn a secret network of Second World War tunnels under Holborn into a major new visitor attraction has made the first preparations for a London stock market listing, the Standard has learned.
The firm, known as London Tunnels, last month changed its name to London Tunnels Plc and restructured its shares pending “admission…and trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market,” Company House filings show.
London Tunnels declined to comment on its listing plans.
The firm last week submitted a planning application to reopen the vast subterranean site at a cost of £220 million. The tunnels were built during the Blitz to serve as a shelter, before being used by the Special Operation Executive, the forerunner of MI6.
CEO Angus Murray told the Standard: “All those men and women that sacrificed their lives during the Second World War gave their lives to protect our democratic rights and this is an asset that we can use to tell that story.”
The Kingsway Exchange tunnels, an expanse of 8,000 sq m of passageways several hundred feet below High Holborn, were shrouded in mystery for most of the 20th century with details covered by the government’s Official Secrets Act, because of their wartime role as a base for MI6 officials.
The site is now set to be transformed into a museum exploring their history after it was bought by London Tunnels earlier this year.
It is hoped that as many as two million visitors a year will visit the attraction site after it is converted into a high-tech immersive experience with giant curved immersive screens, interactive structures, scent-emitting technology and hundreds of individual acoustic pinpoint speakers.
The firm behind the plans hopes to invest £140 million into restoring, preserving and fitting out the site, as well as a further £80 million allocated to installing the interactive screens, with a view to opening the attraction in 2027.
Angus Murray, an Australian banker and the former president of asset management giant Macquarie, led the acquisition.
The tunnels, which have been unoccupied for years, were taken over by BT in the 1980s. The telecoms giant first put the site up for sale in 2008 but had struggled to find a buyer. BT declined to comment on the deal and refused to say how much cash it received. A person familiar with the matter said difficulties with obtaining planning permission for the unusual site contributed to the protracted sales process.
The development could yet be scuppered if it does not receive planning permission from Camden council.
“British Telecom had to consider what it was going to be used for,” Murray said.
“So we told them what we wanted to use it for, bringing heritage and history to life as well as culture.
“Then we had to seek Secretary of State approval in the United Kingdom to allow us to buy the asset, which was granted.
“When I went down to see it for the first time, I just thought it was unbelievable. This thing has been sitting here for so many years and the possibilities are amazing.”
