22nd August 2006

COULD THE LAST PERSON TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY PLEASE TURN THE LIGHTS OUT.

  • Support for the Government's party at 19-year low says Guardian/ICM poll
  • Prime Minister on holiday at Sir Cliff Richard's Barbados villa
  • Two million UK residents already own second homes abroad
  • Thousands more set to follow
  • Biggest-ever overseas property show sets advance ticket sales records
  • 300 exhibitors from more than 30 countries set for Birmingham NEC
  • A Place in the Sun Live, 29th September-1st October
  • Show's first TV ad campaign set to break

It seems the The Sun may have had a point all those years ago when, faced with the prospect of Neil Kinnock as Prime Minister and the Labour Party in power, it urged its sizeable readership to quit the British Isles and hit the lights on the way out. For after nine years of Tony Blair's Premiership and with support for his party apparently at a 19-year low according to a new Guardian/ICM poll, two million UK residents have indeed scooped up a home abroad and thousands more are set to follow.

The UK's biggest-ever overseas property exhibition, A Place in the Sun Live, takes place at Birmingham's NEC from 29th September-1st October and advance ticket sales are currently running 20% up on the already record-breaking April 2006 event at London's ExCeL, visited by 21,144 people. More telling still, advance sales are 50% up year on year, promising a bumper weekend among nearly 300 exhibitors offering properties in more than 30 different countries.

Says event organiser Darren Styles, Chief Executive of Brooklands Group:

“There's no denying there's a mood within the national psyche for change, be it political or geographical. When the sun shines here the trains slow and the roads melt, the water runs out and the Deputy Prime Minister appears to tell us we should take it easy in the heat. Meanwhile, his boss is away kicking back in Barbados and the Caribbean. So maybe we should take one at his word and follow the example of the other (taking care to do as Mr Prescott says and Mr Blair does, rather than the reverse) and get the hell out of here!

“A Place in the Sun Live offers the best possible opportunity to compare all manner of overseas destinations and properties side by side, under one roof, and our autumn show at the NEC is set to be the biggest and best ever - setting new records in terms of scale and visitor numbers, even advance ticket sales. The largest exhibition of its kind ever to be held in the UK, A Place in the Sun Live opens on Friday 29th September and provides a gateway to the world for three full days.”

With a sizeable television advertisement campaign - the event's first - soon to break on both Channel 4 and ITV, as well as trails to be broadcast at the end of programming on C4 and a strong national press spend, the A Place in the Sun Live marketing effort is now getting into full flow. Let's hope the UK population sticks around to see it; it would be a shame if the lights were on here but nobody was home.

Advance tickets (£10 for adults, £6 concessions, children free) for A Place in the Sun Live can be booked on 0870 352 8888 or online at www.aplaceinthesunlive.com.

Press contact:
Gillian Green, Magellan PR
Tel:  020 8875 2850
Email:  gillian@magellan-pr.com