Tourist attraction with shopping village and gardens is to be sold as owners focus on house-building

THE owners of a popular Staffordshire tourist attraction, which includes picturesque gardens and a shopping village, has revealed it is up for sale.

The Trentham Estate, in Stone Road, Trentham, has been owned by property developer St Modwen for 30 years.

The site includes the Italian

Gardens and lake. The Trentham Monkey Forest attraction is a separate business and is not being sold as part of the deal, but the land on which it is located will be sold to the new owners.

Pre-covid , more than 750,000 people were visiting from across the Midlands and the rest of the UK each year.

But now St Modwen has confirmed that it wants to off-load the estate to an organisation which can “continue to invest in the business” and “support its ongoing success”.

St Modwen’s decision to put The Trentham Estate up for sale forms part of the company’s wider plans to focus on logistics and house-building over the next two years.

It wants to sell £200 million worth of assets by 2023.

A company spokesman said: “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.”

Trentham Estate senior director

Alastair Budd wants to reassure visitors and staff that it will be business as usual under new ownership as the country comes out of the pandemic.

He said: “It is a hugely successful site, but now St Modwen feels that the time is right to bring someone else in who will continue to take it from strength-to-strength.”