A Place in the Sun buys leading property investment event

A leading property investment show has been bought by Britain’s best-known and Channel 4-linked overseas property event, A Place in the Sun Live.

APITS Ltd, which runs both regular live events across Britain and a website that is the main competitor with Rightmove’s overseas property search business, has acquired Property Investor Media Ltd – which operates the Property Investor Show.

A Place in the Sun started as a TV show in 2000 and has been running for 12 series and remains a staple of daytime TV on Channel 4. In 2003 the Communications Act freed producers of shows like A Place in the Sun to control their own intellectual property and many went on to launch live shows, magazines and websites.

The Property Investor Show started out during the 1980s as the Homebuyer Show, but in 2002 became the Property Investor Show with an official launch at London’s ExCel.

Combined events

The two events will now be combined and  A Place in the Sun Live at Excel London (16th – 18th April 2027) and the NEC Birmingham (24th – 26th September 2027) will include the Property Investor show with its distinct branding, floorplan and seminar theatre, creating a wider-reaching event for British and overseas property buyers and investors.

“Our respective events have been running for over 20 years so we’ve had a couple of decades for our respect and admiration to grow of what Nick [Clarke], Mike [Doyle] and Kelly [O’Sullivan] have achieved,” says Andy Bridge, Chief Executive of APITS Ltd.

“Staging events does not get any easier and we are not the first to recognise the clear economies in running two events in one space.

“We have competed with Property Investor across the years and share some exhibitors, but the combined client base and audience create a strong opportunity to coalesce and develop.”

Boost to exhibitor ROI

Property Investor Media’s Managing Director and founder Nick Clark says: “In the post-Covid environment, our exhibitors have been asking for added value to boost their exhibition ROI, primarily in the form of larger visitor attendance numbers, but also the opportunity to engage with an audience beyond London and the Southeast. Meanwhile our visitors seek a broader content mix.

“I am confident that combining the complementary content of the UK’s two largest property events – and presenting them at two of the UK’s leading venues – will satisfy these requirements. Exhibitors can look forward to larger attendances and visitors will be able to engage with a wider offering from exhibitors.”

Writing on LinkedIn, Clark adds: “Having entered my 70th year and survived 40+ years as a business owner, I have been mandated by the Mrs to hang up my 9-to-5 boots. And who am I to argue with the boss?

“The reality is that I ran out of steam some time ago. I can no longer keep up with everything that’s coming at us these days: AI, social media, DEI, and a hundred other acronyms. So, the time feels right to pass on the baton.”

Industry figure Russell Quirk became a shareholder in the Property Investor show in February this year.