An independent hotel, built by two people who wanted to stay on Bankside
In 2021 Imogen Hale and Daniel Osei walked past an empty five-storey warehouse on Sumner Street with a faded painted sign for a Borough hop merchant. It had been built in the 1890s to store hops for the breweries south of the river, became a print works in the 1930s, and had stood empty for most of the 2010s.
They bought it with a group of private investors and Halyard Real Estate Partners, and spent three years restoring it with the architects Wright Halloran: the brick, the cast-iron columns and the loading doors stayed; a new wing went up around a courtyard where the print works’ sheds had been. The Ferrier opened on 12 May 2025 with 90 rooms and suites, Pike Garden, The Wherry and five event spaces. The Undercroft spa followed in September 2025.
We are independent: no brand, no franchise, no management company. Imogen runs the hotel day to day; Daniel looks after the building and what comes next. We employ 74 people, pay the London Living Wage or above to everyone including contractors, and give every member of the team two nights a year in the hotel.
Founders
Imogen Hale
Co-founder and Managing Director
Imogen spent eighteen years in London hotels, starting on the night desk of a Bloomsbury townhouse and ending as general manager of a 120-room hotel in Marylebone. She grew up in Bermondsey and still swims at the lido in Brockwell Park every morning she can.
Daniel Osei
Co-founder and Development Director
Daniel trained as a quantity surveyor and spent a decade restoring listed commercial buildings along the river. He found the Sumner Street warehouse in 2021, empty and up for sale, and spent three years turning it into a hotel with the architects Wright Halloran.
The team
Sophie Marchetti
General Manager
Previously deputy GM at a boutique hotel group in Edinburgh and Manchester. Answers every review herself.
Ravi Chandran
Head Chef, Pike Garden
Ten years in London kitchens, most recently as head chef of a Bermondsey neighbourhood restaurant. Cooks British produce with a light hand and a lot of butter.
Ania Kowalczyk
Spa Manager, The Undercroft
Qualified therapist and trainer; built the Undercroft treatment menu around the treatments she would book herself.
Liam Turner
Head of Events and Groups
Ran conference and events sales for two large hotels south of the river before joining The Ferrier before opening.
How we work
- Every room is cleaned by our own housekeeping team; we don’t use agencies.
- Toiletries are refilled, not thrown away. Food waste goes to anaerobic digestion in Kent.
- All electricity is on a renewable tariff and the building is heated by air-source heat pumps installed during the restoration.
- Our best rate is always on our own website.