Christie Group shares were down 1.6% to 120.5p in late afternoon trading on Friday after the company reported the upcoming sale of its Trentham Estate, an iconic UK visitor attraction and leisure-based outlet retail and garden centre.
The firm are set to sell the Trentham Estate on behalf of property group St. Modwen, following a strategic review of St. Modwen’s core business.
The Estate currently attracts approximately 3.2 million people per year, including 760,000 paid visitors, placing the venue in the top-five paid-for garden attractions across the UK.
Trentham’s business is underpinned by the substantial property investment business which incorporates 85 third-party leasehold occupiers, the majority of which are based in the Outlook Shopping Village, alongside restaurants and a Blue Diamond Garden Centre.
The Christie Group added that the Estate also features a Monkey Forest attraction, a Treetop Adventure high ropes course and a water sports centre which hosts Trentham Canoe and Trentham Boat Clubs.
“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,” said Christie and Co head of leisure and development Jon Patrick.
“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.”