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BRDC confirms Silverstone lease

Map showing the long-term lease of Silverstone to MEPC © BRDC

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The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) has confirmed that Silverstone has been sold to commercial property company MEPC on a long-term lease.

Following a report last month, the BRDC has now revealed it has sold the Silverstone Industrial Estate and development land around the circuit to MEPC on a 999-year lease for £32million. While the BRDC says the deal "does not include the management or development of Silverstone Circuit itself", the payment has in turn allowed it to clear loans and BRDC chairman Stuart Rolt says he is sure the deal will ensure the continued growth of the Silverstone site.

"Following major improvements to Silverstone, including significant investment in the Grand Prix Circuit and building of The Wing, the BRDC Board was given a mandate three years ago to attract suitable partners to invest in Silverstone and help realise the full potential of its 760-acre Estate," Rolt said. "Over three years the Board has given consideration to a number of offers from credible parties and we are delighted to have reached an agreement with MEPC, which was selected on the grounds of its financial standing, reputation, the quality of the developments it has undertaken - and continues to own - and the price it was prepared to pay.

"We have every confidence that their vision for our land will see the realisation of a high-quality development, which will add to the ever growing status of Silverstone as a world-class centre for motor sport and vehicle engineering. We are also confident that in MEPC we have a partner which fully appreciates the status of Silverstone as a race circuit, its history, the ethos of the BRDC and the importance of doing everything to ensure that reputation is enhanced in the future."

Rick de Blaby, chief executive officer of MEPC, said it was "incredibly excited" by the potential of the development.

"When we were approached with the BRDC's vision of what Silverstone might become in its next iteration, it was easy for my colleagues and I at MEPC to relate to such ambition; the creation of great business estates, with clusters of particular commercial activity that have a sense of place and community, is what we do. That the BRDC had secured planning consent for its Masterplan is to its great credit and we are, of course, hugely cognisant of the immense history of Silverstone and its current standing today, not just as a venue for world-class motor sport, but as a centre for high-end precision engineering.

"It is now MEPC's wish to see that vision materialise in all its forms and we are incredibly excited about investing in a number of the specific projects we have already identified for the next 24 months, albeit the on-going development of Silverstone could be a 10 year project. It is a significant responsibility to fulfil the entirety of our now shared vision, but one I am confident will be achieved."

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