24 February 2015
TOWN CENTRE SECURITIES PLC
('The Company')
TOWN CENTRE ESTABLISHES LONDON OFFICE AS IT EXPANDS CITIPARK BUSINESS
Town Centre Securities PLC, the Leeds based property investor and car park operator, today announces it is establishing a new London office following the recent purchase of a Grade II Listed office on Duke Street, London. The building was acquired for £3.1m on a 125 year lease and is currently being refurbished.
The new office will principally be used as a base to manage the expansion of Town Centre's growing car park subsidiary, CitiPark, as it executes an ambitious five year plan to expand the number of branches across the UK, particularly in the South of England. This follows the successful re-branding and re-launch of the CitiPark business last year.
In total, CitiPark currently has 11 branches and over 5,000 car parking spaces. In the last six months it has purchased two car parks in the Greater London area, one at Clipstone Street, W1 and the other at Clements Road, Ilford. Clipstone Street, a 19 year leasehold 220 space basement car park, was purchased in December 2014 for £800,000. Clements Road was purchased on a long leasehold for £2.5m and is a 650 space multi-story car park.
The recently completed £9m refurbishment of CitiPark's flagship branch at the Merrion Centre in Leeds included the largest carbon fibre project in Europe. Its success is already helping CitiPark win further contracts in other towns and cities, like the recent partnership with Watford Council; CitiPark will soon be the new operator of three Watford Council car parks totalling 1,752 spaces.
CitiPark is also investing in new cloud based management technology such as an Automatic Registration Plate Vehicle recognition system and a new parking management system. These systems will enable the Company to run operations from its Leeds based, 24/7 control room, which will help optimise CitiPark's customer service.
Edward Ziff, Chairman and Chief Executive, commented:
"Our new London office represents a significant landmark not only for our CitiPark business but for Town Centre Securities as a whole, the establishment of our first regional office outside Leeds. Our intention is to expand our CitiPark footprint in the UK, particularly in the South. Our new London presence will enable us to manage CitiPark's growth whilst also providing us with the bandwidth to make selective opportunistic investments in the London market."
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For further information, please contact:
Town Centre Securities PLC www.tcs-plc.com
Edward Ziff, Chairman and Chief Executive 0113 222 1234
Duncan Syers, Finance Director
MHP Communications
Reg Hoare / Adam Leviton / Gina Bell 020 3128 8100