Trentham Estate being sold to firm which will 'support its ongoing success'
One of Staffordshire’s top visitor attractions is being sold off to a firm which will 'support its ongoing success', say owners.
Boasting landmark attractions such as Monkey Forest, Trentham Gardens, Trentham Shopping Village and more, The Trentham Estate is being sold to a business that specialises in operating leisure sites.
The Estate, between Stone and Stoke-on-Trent, has been owned by Birmingham-based property developer and regeneration experts St Modwen for 30 years.
St Modwen last week revealed it wants to sell £200 million of its assets by 2023.
Trentham Estate, off Stone Road, is valued at nearly £30m by the business - and during a normal year it attracts more than 750,000 visitors.
St Modwen has seen rental income from the estate, which also includes a Treetop Adventures and a popular garden centre, drop by £1 million as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
St Modwen today issues a statement: "We are proud of the investment and commitment we have made to The Trentham Estate over many years, bringing the gardens back to life and creating a highly popular shopping and leisure destination.
"Over recent years, St. Modwen has focused on the core areas of housebuilding and developing logistics property. This means that, over the coming few years, we plan to sell Trentham to an organisation that can continue to invest in the business and act as custodian to support its ongoing success.”
The business has yet to officially put the estate on the market.
Trentham Monkey Forest operates as a separate business and would not be sold as part of any deal, but the land on which it is located would be sold to the new owners.
The estate, run by subsidiary business Trentham Leisure, remains partially open under the current lockdown restrictions.
Senior director Alastair Budd has reassured both staff and visitors that it will be business as usual.
He said St Modwen feels that the time is right to bring someone else in who will continue to take it from strength to strength.
All of the staff would be transferred to eventual new owners under TUPE regulations.
Mr Budd said that until a new owner was found, St Modwen would continue to invest in the business.
The estate plans to resume holding the popular summer open air concerts by the lake this summer subject to Covid restrictions.
A three-day Trentham Live festival is also planned for the first week of September
St Modwen's results for the year to the end of November saw a pre-tax loss of £139.4m compared to £58.9m profit a year before with revenue falling to £342.1m from £429.9m.
