The Peel Group
 |
|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Infrastructure, Land and Property, Ports, Transport |
| Founded | as Peel Mills (1920–71) as Peel Holdings (1971–2004) as The Peel Group (since 2004) |
| Headquarters | The Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom |
| Key people | John Whittaker |
| Total assets | £6.6 billion (2011)[1] |
| Employees | 5,000[2] |
| Divisions |
14 divisions
|
| Subsidiaries | The Pinewood Studios Group |
| Website | Peel Group Website |
The Peel Group (formerly Peel Holdings and Peel Mills) is a diversified real estate, transport and infrastructure investment company in the United Kingdom. It has assets owned and under management approaching £6 billion,[3] 850,000 sq metres of investment property and over 11,000 hectares of land.[4]
Peel is the largest property investment company in the United Kingdom[5] and its long-term aim is to make the North West of England the leading economic region in the UK.[6] The group headquarters are at the Trafford Centre, Manchester.
Projects which Peel has developed or owns include the Trafford Centre, MediaCityUK, Scout Moor Wind Farm, The Pinewood Studios Group. Including these tangible assets, Peel owns a number of key equity stakes in companies. The Group is currently focused on the £50 billion Atlantic Gateway development for North West England.
Contents |
[edit] History
Between 1971 and 1987, the group's founder, John Whittaker acquired Peel Mills, John Bright's and the Manchester Ship Canal Company.[7] The company evolved into Peel Holdings to reflect its status as a property investment company, abandoning the name of Peel Mills.
The largest asset of the group was formerly the Trafford Centre. In 1986, Peel submitted a planning application for a large shopping centre development on land attached to the Manchester Ship Canal, adjacent to the M63, now the M60, in Trafford, Greater Manchester. The plans had been originally conceived in 1984.
In 2004, Peel Holdings which was the largest company on the AIM Market went private in a £1.3 billion deal and became The Peel Group.[8] Peel sold the Trafford Centre in January 2011 to Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) for £1.6bn,[9] with Peel receiving around £70m and gaining a 20% in CSC.
Having built a 29% stake, in April 2011 Peel bid £87.8m for The Pinewood Studios Group.[9] Having had their first bid rejected, Peel offered £96m which was subsequently accepted.[10]
[edit] Projects
[edit] Ocean Gateway
Peel is developing a large infrastructure project known as the Ocean Gateway around the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, including two mixed developments known as Liverpool Waters[11] and Wirral Waters.[12]
[edit] Renewable energy
As of 2011, Peel Energy currently produces 3GW which Peel claims is enough to power 3 million homes in North West England.[13] The Group sees renewable energy as key to creating a stable North West England which is self-reliant on its energy needs, thus helping businesses invest. North West England is ideally situated for the cleanest renewable energy sources with high land and winds for wind energy and rivers and coast for schemes like tidal energy. Furthermore bio-mass energy is a preferred renewable energy source however nuclear power has never been considered by Peel.
In 2008, the Scout Moor Wind Farm which is the largest onshore wind farm began operations and produces enough electricity for the average need of 40,000 homes.[14]
[edit] Assets
[edit] Tangible assets
Peel's assets and projects include[15]:
- Airports
- Energy
- Canals
- Ports
- Retail
- Trafford Centre - now owned by CSC but conceptualised and developed by Peel.
- Gloucester Quays - the Gloucester Quays Outlet was opened in May 2009 by Gok Wan
- Media
- MediaCityUK
- The Pinewood Studios Group - acquired 71.1% stake in 2011.
[edit] Equity stakes
- UK Coal - 28.3%[16] (largest shareholder)
- Capital Shopping Centres - 20%
[edit] References
- ^ "In Focus: John Whittaker and world domination". insidermedia.com. 30 November 2010. http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/north-west/43211-deals-focus-john-whittaker-and-world-domination. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
- ^ "Careers - The Peel Group". Peel Group. http://www.peel.co.uk/careers/default.aspx. Retrieved 18 July 2011. "Our most valuable asset is the 5,000-strong team of talented people who work for us."
- ^ "The Peel Group - Homepage". The Peel Group. http://www.peel.co.uk/. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
- ^ "Peel - Liverpool Waters Development Company". Peel Group. http://www.liverpoolwaters.co.uk/content/company.php. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
- ^ "Homepage - The Peel Group". http://www.peel.co.uk/. Retrieved 2 August 2011. "The Peel Group is a leading infrastructure, transport and real estate investment company in the UK."
- ^ "Ocean Gateway". Peel Holdings. http://www.oceangateway.com/downloads/Ocean%20Gateway%20-%20Low.pdf. Retrieved 12 July 2011. "Preface - This book has been written to give its readers an understanding of the efforts of Peel Holdings to create wealth and prosperity for the future of the North West Region. It endeavours to explain the ethos behind Peel’s projects and activities in the North West to help make it the leading region of the UK"
- ^ "History and vision". Peel Group. http://www.peel.co.uk/aboutus/history-and-vision.
- ^ Shah, Saeed (1 July 2004). "Property group Peel goes private in £1.3bn buy-out". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/property-group-peel-goes-private-in-pound13bn-buyout-565395.html.
- ^ a b "Pinewood Shepperton studios gets £87.8m bid from Peel". BBC News. 8 April 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13020668. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
- ^ "Pinewood Shepperton accepts improved takeover bid". BBC. 27 April 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13211311.
- ^ Booth, Robert (4 October 2010). "Liverpool developer lures Chinese investors with 'Shanghai Tower'". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/04/liverpool-shanghai-tower-chinese-investors.
- ^ http://www.englandsnorthwest.com/news_and_features/news/201010/peel_submits_for_liverpool_wat.aspx
- ^ "Peel Energy - About". Peel Energy. http://www.peelenergy.co.uk/about.
- ^ "Giant wind farm officially opens". BBC. 25 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7635159.stm.
- ^ http://www.peel.co.uk/group/
- ^ "UK Coal shares soar despite denial of takeover attempt". thisislondon.co.uk. 9 March 2010. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23813493-uk-coal-shares-soar-despite-denial-of-takeover-attempt.do.
