EDINBURGH-based Apex Hotels has unveiled plans to invest £35 million to build a new hotel in Bath, as chairman Norman Springford revealed investment activity has returned to the industry following the independence referendum.

The company, which owns and operates eight hotels across Edinburgh, Dundee and London, is to develop a 177-bedroom full service hotel, with conference facilities, in the Bath Conservation Area.

The hotel will be located in a Unesco World Heritage site, currently occupied by a vacant office building and close to tourist attractions such as the Roman Baths.

Apex, owned by the Springford family, plans to begin demolishing the property later this year.

It then hopes to start constructing the hotel in May, with an opening time slated for autumn, 2016.

Edinburgh-based IS Architects, headed by Ian Springford, son of Apex chairman Norman Springford, will oversee the project.

The acquisition, which has been funded by Bank of Scotland, was made with planning permission already in place.

Apex chairman Norman Springford said: "We have a number of cities in the country that we look at and Bath was certainly on our target list.

"There are very few consents offered in Bath so we are really quite excited about this opportunity.

"There are clear demand indicators in Bath and you can see that from the prices that the accommodation is now able to charge.

"There aren't many corporate players in Bath - it tends to be a city with a large number of smaller, private hotels."

Mr Springford said the company remained open to further acquisitions, noting the market had picked up as the UK economy has emerged from recession.

And he insisted there is "absolutely no doubt" that some property sales had been put on hold in Scotland while the independence referendum played out.

He said: "We always look at opportunities and there has been a large increase in the amount of hotel activity in the last few months.

"And now that the referendum debate is hopefully behind us, there is also an increase in properties becoming available in Scotland too.

"Yes, we're looking at Glasgow and an extension to a business up in Dundee. There is quite a lot happening just now."

The Bath deal was announced shortly after Apex concluded missives on its acquisition of the historic Custom House in Dundee, with the deal funded by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), its main banker.

The building is next to the company's Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa.

While the firm has still to develop its plans for the property, he said Dundee's ongoing £1 billion Waterfront project means it is a good time to be trading in the city.

He said: "Dundee has an awful lot going for it at the present time, and it is really exciting to see it."

Mr Springford said the banks' appetite for funding hotel investments has picked up as broader economic conditions have improved, but urged the banks to learn the lessons of the global financial crash and adopt a more cautious approach to lending.

He said: "Yes, there is much more evidence of lending out there, but we have all got to be careful we do this in a proper way."