Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed director of a new Middle East-backed investment fund that plans to invest more than £1 billion in luxury hotel projects in London’s Mayfair.
Evolution Investment Fund, founded in 2025 by the UAE-based Shanshal family, has acquired a leasehold interest in the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square, adjacent to a development site near New Bond Street, with full planning permission.
The total capital commitment for the two projects, including development costs, is approximately £1.1 billion. The fund said the acquisitions represented a “significant vote of confidence in London’s long-term growth prospects.”
Zahawi has joined the British boards that oversee acquisition companies.
The 237-room London Marriott Grosvenor Square spans nearly 198,000 square feet and is located in the heart of Mayfair, surrounded by embassies, private members’ clubs and high-end retail outlets.
The second project, at Grafton Street and Barlow Place, will include a 157,000-square-foot project with 94 hotel rooms and six luxury residences. Foster + Partners’ designs include plans for a 12-story tower, part of what the fund calls an “ultra-premium hospitality offering.”
The Shanshal family, whose business interests include logistics, telecommunications, automotive retail and construction across the Middle East, said the Mayfair investments reflected long-term confidence in London’s global appeal.
Zahawi co-founded the polling company YouGov in 2000 before entering Parliament in 2010 as the Conservative MP for Stratford-upon-Avon. He later briefly served as Chancellor under Boris Johnson.
In 2023 he was sacked as leader of the Conservative Party after breaching the ministerial code by failing to disclose that HM Revenue & Customs had investigated his tax affairs. Earlier this year, Zahawi defected to Reform UK.
He said he was “delighted” to be joining Evolution at what he said was an exciting period of development and would use his experience to support the delivery of world-class hotel facilities.
The appointment underlines continued international demand for prime London property, even as higher interest rates and political uncertainty weigh on parts of the UK property market.
