Thursday Feb 02, 2006

• A Place in the Sun Live exhibition now 'in association with Barclays'
• Partnership signifies continued success for this award-winning event
• The world's largest overseas property, travel and lifestyle exhibition
• Open 7th-9th April 2006 at ExCeL, London Docklands

Brooklands Group, organiser of Channel 4's A Place in the Sun Live exhibition, is delighted to announce Barclays as the headline sponsor of its forthcoming April 2006 show. It is the first time that Barclays have sponsored an overseas property exhibition in the UK.

A Place in the Sun Live in association with Barclays is the world's largest international property, travel and lifestyle exhibition. It was recently named 'Best Launch Exhibition of 2005' at the prestigious Event Awards and is supported by a £1 million marketing campaign.

The exhibition is based on the hit Channel 4 TV series by Freeform Productions, now in its sixth year, and the award-winning A Place in the Sun magazine (currently the PPA IPAC Magazine of the Year).

Sponsor Barclays is one of the world's leading banks with a mortgage and banking operation in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Barclays PLC is one of the world's largest global financial services providers primarily offering banking, investment banking and investment management services. Present in over 60 countries, Barclays is a leading provider of global services to over 20 million customers and employs more than 110,500 people worldwide.

Says Darren Styles, Chief Executive of Brooklands Group:

"We had an incredible first year with A Place in the Sun Live: two shows attracting more than 40,000 visitors and a major industry award. To have a brand as universally respected as Barclays coming on board as headline sponsor for our first 2006 exhibition is the icing on the cake and cements our position as the world's number one overseas property exhibition. The prestige in being associated with one of the world's leading banks reinforces the values associated with the A Place in the Sun brand and assures both consumers and exhibitors of the standards we intend to maintain.
It's great news for the overseas property and exhibition industry too. Our association with a household name such as Barclays will promote confidence in buying property abroad and highlights the value exhibitions have as an effective marketing platform."

Suzanne Clay, head of European business development for Barclays says:

"Barclays is delighted to confirm that it is to sponsor A Place in the Sun Live. Barclays has the largest presence of any UK Bank in the European mortgage market that offers products specifically designed for Brits looking to purchase property in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy. Alongside Barclays leading position in the market the A Place in the Sun franchise is widely recognised as an authorative and valuable source of information for people looking to purchase a property overseas. The A Place in the Sun Live exhibition in April represents a significant opportunity for two leading experts in the overseas property market to showcase how they can help people achieve their dream of owning a property in the sun."

Tony Hurst, Sponsorship Manager of Brooklands Exhibitions comments:

"I am obviously delighted that Barclays has signed to be the first headline sponsor of this exhibition in only its second year. We have created a unique platform that will enable Barclays to use the show as part of their core marketing strategy to both new customers and current clients."

Press contacts:

Brooklands Group: Gillian Green, Magellan PR, 020 8875 2850, Gillian@magellan-pr.com
Barclays: Perry Jones, Barclays, PR Manager, 020 7116 6142, perry.jones@barclays.com

Editor's notes:

Brooklands Group is a Channel 4 publishing partner, producing A Place in the Sun and its sister titles:

A Place in the Sun's everything France, A Place in the Sun's everything Spain, A Place in the Sun's everything America and the A Place in the Sun Property Price Guide. It further holds contracts for customer titles for Renault UK and Vauxhall Motors plus licences for the official publications of the following Channel 4 TV shows: Location, Location, Location, Property Ladder, Supernanny and You Are What You Eat.