In 2014, Hughes took out a £45m loan from the European Investment Bank,[10][11] to assist the university in developing its estates strategy. In 2016, the university opened Marine Centre Wales,[12] a £5.5m building on the site of the university's Ocean Sciences campus in Menai Bridge, which was financed as part of the £25 million SEACAMS project, part funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).[13]