Jarvis pulls out of student accommodation

Troubled support services group Jarvis is to sell its University Partnership Programme (UPP), which provides and operates student accommodation, to the Alma Mater Fund.

The firm said on Wednesday that the sale "is not expected to be material in the context of the Jarvis Group". Alma Mater, which has previously partnered with UPP and bought up some of Jarvis' investments in student deals, is a joint venture partnership managed by venture capitalist 3i and Barclays Private Equity.

Jarvis has also appointed former director of strategy and corporate affairs Alistair Rae as finance director. He was appointed acting finance director after Robert Kendall resigned from the firm in the spring. Chief executive Kevin Hyde described Rae as a "crucial figure in the recovery process we have underway".