24th April 2007

BIGGEST EVER A PLACE IN THE SUN LIVE - IN ASSOCIATION WITH MONEYCORP - ATTRACTS NEARLY 19,000 VISITORS TO EXCEL LONDON, CONFIRMING STATUS AS UK'S NUMBER ONE OVERSEAS PROPERTY SHOW

Biggest ever A Place in the Sun Live at London's ExCeL 30th March-1st April
17,000 square metres, 400+ exhibitors, 40+ countries
18,630 visitors over three days (subject to pending ABC audit)
3% attendance increase show-on-show
Expanded four-show A Place in the Sun Live calendar for 2008
Manchester, ExCeL London, Birmingham, Earls Court London

Brooklands Group's biggest ever A Place in the Sun Live - held in association with Moneycorp at ExCeL in London's Docklands from Friday 30th March to Sunday 1st April - attracted a bumper audience of nearly 19,000 visitors over three days and has been declared a runaway success by exhibitors and organiser alike. Property worth millions of pounds changed hands as 18,630 people packed the venue (some 3% more than the 18,049 at Birmingham NEC last September) in search of a dream home abroad - and many left with just what they were looking for.

Little wonder that exhibitor satisfaction so high this autumn's NEC show is already 78% booked, while the all-new Manchester event in February 2008 is 50% booked - despite only having been announced at ExCeL as part of a four-exhibition calendar for 2008 that will take A Place in the Sun Live to Manchester and West London for the first time, alongside the already-established venues in East London and Birmingham.

Says Ken Pritchard, Exhibition Director:

“It was a fantastic weekend, the hall was buzzing from first to last and we're delighted to have delivered yet another sizeable audience for our exhibitors. But for a couple of calendar clashes, which we'll avoid next year by co-locating with the London Golf Show at the end of April, we'd have cracked 20,000 again - but it was a great result from a massive show nonetheless.”

THE BIGGEST EVER A PLACE IN THE SUN LIVE

Now in its third year, the fifth A Place in the Sun Live exhibition (now in association with Moneycorp) returned to London's ExCeL - after a successful debut visit to Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre last autumn - to put on the biggest show to date: more than 400 exhibitors from in excess of 40 countries were laid out across a record-breaking 17,000 square metres.

This award-winning show, the biggest of its kind in the world, newly enjoyed a section dedicated entirely to emigration, a French marketplace, an Egyptian pyramid and further features dedicated to the delights of Spain, South Africa and Morocco respectively. Three expansive seminar theatres ran a comprehensive free-to-attend programme daily, some of which had to be repeated in extra sessions such was the level of demand, and the main stage featured both live entertainment and interviews with the A Place in the Sun TV presenter Amanda Lamb and celebrity designer Linda Barker. And all around the exhibition, business was booming:

Exhibitor Harlequin, for example, sold £7m worth of properties at the show - a record - and the just-launched Limpopo-Limpadi Game Reserve in Botswana sold ten properties on the first day alone. The new French Pavilion was equally popular, as Veronica Prentice of Immo' Sud explains: "This was a trial run for us, we weren't sure we'd attract sufficient a number of people interested in France as the show covers so many countries. But we were very pleasantly surprised at the number of people seriously looking to buy in France who came to our stand." Further testimonials came thick and fast:

“Pre-show we doubled our level of incoming enquiries, 25% of which were coming directly through the show's own website. As one of the sponsors of the event we are very pleased with the results - we have met our sales targets and consider the investment worthwhile.” Tania Cozzi, Worldwide Destinations

“This exhibition puts all the others in the shade, we only exhibit with them now.” Richard Ford, Sweet Homes Didim

“A Place in the Sun Live is a must-have as part of our exhibition strategy: well-organised and well-attended, we'd be crazy not to be here.” Dan Johnson, The Move Channel

“We're very happy; we sold a Caribbean town-house for $954,000 on the Sunday.” Vivian Bridge, Cotton Bay Resorts (Admiral Estates)

“We see these exhibitions as a great opportunity to meet with prospective clients and help the gather all of the information they need. This year it was particularly good in the sense that we had many prospective buyers of a high quality visit our stands. ” Dominique Ritchie, Atlas International

“We have attended every one of the A Place in the Sun Live exhibitions and each has been excellent: well-attended with quality buyers and wonderful staff who are always so helpful.” Tenette Bradbury, Egyptian Experience

“Beats all other exhibitions hands down.” Mike Graisatui Tournesol Properties

EXPANDED FOUR-SHOW CALENDAR FOR 2008

Manchester Central (formerly GMEX) 29th February to 2nd March 2008 (NEW!)

ExCeL London 25th to 27th April 2008 (5th show)

Birmingham NEC 26th to 28th September 2008 (3rd show)

Earls Court London 3rd to 5th October 2008 (NEW!)

Brooklands Group Chief Executive, Darren Styles, who has long insisted the A Place in the Sun Live calendar would be restricted to just two shows, explains the new four-show strategy:

Says Darren Styles, Chief Executive:

“When we launched A Place in the Sun Live back in April 2005 we did so into a calendar congested with dozens of tiny, fruitless events in venues large and small. We vowed then, as we do now, that we would deliver a scale and professionalism previously unknown to this industry, with a size of audience to match. I believe we have made good on that promise - with ABC-audited attendances of up to 21,000 visitors - and in the process have 'weeded out' a number of lacklustre, poorly-performing shows from the schedule. In many respects it is mission accomplished. And yet.

“Our own experience over three years and five shows has proven there is an autumn audience in both London (2005) and Birmingham (2006) for A Place in the Sun Live - and as we have moved North to broaden our geographical spread so others have sought to step into the space we have vacated. Similarly, having engaged with an audience across the Midlands for the first time last year they have asked us where we've been during the spring season, as the shows they have traditionally seen have been smaller and less effective. And if we have learned one thing since the first issue of A Place in the Sun magazine in March 2004 it's that advertisers and exhibitors will follow our readers and visitors.

“Hence for 2008 we seek to complete the circle, but with several significant twists. We create a brand new season-opener in Manchester Central at a unique city centre venue with a catchment area that takes in one of the wealthiest areas of the UK and the regenerating cities of Leeds and Liverpool, the latter the 2008 European City of Culture. Space will be limited to just 10,000 square metres, however.

“From there we move back to ExCeL London, but a month later than previously to co-locate with one of the most successful new events in recent years, the London Golf Show, which attracts a discerning, wealthy audience of some 30,000 visitors. Operating in adjacent North and South Halls, A Place in the Sun Live and the Golf Show will enjoy cross-ticketing arrangements enabling visitors to switch from one event to the other. For our exhibitors this offers an additional opportunity to talk to an audience with disposable income and a penchant for the fairways that punctuate many developments in the sun.

“Our autumn season then begins afresh at the proven Birmingham NEC, though with an additional section that must for the moment remain undisclosed. Suffice to say; in the way that we have added emigration to our 2007 mix to deliver a turn-key solution to many of our visitors, you can expect a development that further broadens our proposition in the context of homes and life abroad. The following weekend (thereby offering overseas exhibitors the opportunity to cover two events in a single, cost effective trip) we return to London, where our debut autumn show attracted more than 19,000 visitors in 2005, but this time to Earls Court and West London, the most affluent area in the UK. A long-established venue and one of the most charismatic on the show circuit, Earls Court will see us close out the season in spectacular style.

“All told, within the year we'd hope to deliver 65-70,000 visitors to our exhibitors and further cement our status as the number one overseas property media brand - from a TV programme attracting 3.5 million viewers in prime time and the UK's best-selling magazine to the biggest and best-attended shows in the country, if not the world.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

Brooklands Group, organiser of A Place in the Sun Live, is also the publisher of the official magazine of the Channel 4 TV series A Place in the Sun and further holds contracts to publish customer titles for Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Renault and Vauxhall - plus a new in-flight magazine for Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline.

For further information on the exhibition visit www.aplaceinthesunlive.com

Press contacts:
For Brooklands Group: Sue Lowry or Gillian Green, Magellan PR
Tel: 020 8875 2850
Email: gillian@magellan-pr.com
Email: sue@magellan-pr.com