British Land announces that it has agreed two new lettings with sportswear provider Sports Direct.  These deals follow three separate lettings agreed earlier in the year, and three lease renewals agreed at the end of last year, covering a total of 78,000 sq ft of retail space.

Sports Direct has signed for a 10,000 sq ft store at the Tollgate Centre in Colchester, where British Land downsized an existing furniture retailer and secured planning consent for the new store to accommodate them.  Sports Direct has also taken a 10,000 sq ft store at the Westside Retail Park in Guiseley, Leeds, bringing occupancy at the park, where a refurbishment is nearly complete, to 100%.  Both lettings were signed for a period of 10 years

At the start of the year, Sports Direct also agreed to enlarge its premises at St Peter's Retail Park, Mansfield upscaling to a 11,600 sq ft store on a five year lease.  It took a 9,700 sq ft store at Springfield Retail Park, Elgin on a 10 year lease and the USC brand took a 6,600 sq ft store at Parkgate Shopping in Rotherham (which already has a standalone Sports Direct store) on a five year lease.

Lease renewals were agreed at the end of last year on three 10,000 sq ft stores at Forster Square Retail Park, Bradford, Kingswood Retail Park in Hull and Wheatley Retail Park in Doncaster, all for a period of 10 years.

John Maddison, Head of Retail Park Asset Management for British Land, said: "We are always pleased when tenants choose to increase their presence at our portfolio.  It is a testament to the success of our shopping parks, which offer retailers attractive and well-managed environment to trade from, that this latest series of deals with Sports Direct have been agreed."

Enquiries:
Investor Relations
Sally Jones, British Land 020 7467 2942
Media
Jackie Whitaker, British Land 020 7467 3449
Emma Hammond, FTI Consulting 020 3727 1227
Pip Wood, British Land 020 7467 2942
Gordon Simpson, Finsbury Group 020 7251 3801

Notes to Editors

About British Land
We are one of Europe's largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London Offices & Residential. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed of £17.8 billion (British Land share of which is £12.0 billion), as valued at 31 March 2014. Our properties are home to over 1,000 different organisations and receive over 300 million visits each year. Our objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people's everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to effectively finance these places.

UK Retail assets account for 53% of our portfolio. As the UK's largest listed owner and manager of retail space, our portfolio is well matched to the different ways people shop today, from major regional shopping centres to single occupier locations. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising around 25 million sq ft of retail space across 66 retail parks, 85 superstores, 15 shopping centres, 12 department stores and 77 leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.

Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 47% of our portfolio is focused on London, We have an attractive mix of high‑quality buildings in well‑managed environments and a pipeline of development projects which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.3 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent's Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share).
Our size and substance demands a responsible approach to business. We believe leadership on issues such as sustainability helps drive our performance and is core to the delivery of our overall objective of driving shareholder value and creating Places People Prefer.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

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