17 June 2022

Christie Group plc

("Christie Group" or the "Company")

Christie & Co instructed to sell iconic UK visitor attraction

Christie Group plc (CTG.L), the leading provider of Professional & Financial Services and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services to the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors, is pleased to announce that specialist leisure and retail property advisor, Christie & Co, has been instructed to sell The Trentham Estate, one of the UK's most iconic visitor attractions and leisure-based outlet retail and garden centre property investments, on behalf of St. Modwen.

The decision to bring the hybrid investment opportunity to the market after over 25 years of ownership and significant investment follows a strategic review of St. Modwen's core business. Trentham attracts around 3.25m people - including over 760,000 paid for visitors - each year, placing the estate in the top five paid-for garden attractions in the UK.

Trentham's business is underpinned by the significant property investment business which incorporates 85 third-party leasehold occupiers predominantly located in the Outlook Shopping Village, as well as restaurants and a Blue Diamond Garden Centre. Trentham also features a Monkey Forest attraction, a Treetop Adventure high ropes course and water sports centre which itself is home to Trentham Canoe and Trentham Boat Clubs. 

Jon Patrick, Head of Leisure & Development at Christie & Co who is overseeing the sale process added, "Trentham is a unique asset in that it combines a mix of very stable investment income, as well as revenue from the gardens and events, whilst delivering numerous opportunities for further development. Having one of the busiest garden centres in the country, a vacancy rate of only 2% in the Outlet Shopping Village and an easily accessible location with 7.5 million people living within an hours' drive-time, mark Trentham out as one of the most exciting assignments we've worked on in recent years.

"We anticipate that the British public's increasing interest in all things "outdoors" as well as investors' focus on long income opportunities with further potential for development and exposure to operational real estate, will see interest in Trentham coming from a diverse buyer group."

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Notes to Editors:

Christie Group plc, quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services group with 39 offices across the UK and Europe, catering to its specialist markets in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors.

Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions: Professional & Financial Services (PFS) and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PFS - Christie & Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS - Orridge, Venners and Vennersys.

Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long-established reputation for offering valued services to client companies in agency, valuation services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the Group's core agency business.

For more information, please go to www.christiegroup.com.