Silverstone Sold

Fenderman

Rooters Reporter
The BRDC has sold Silverstone. According to The Independent a 150 year lease has been flogged off to an as yet unnamed real estate firm. Apparently the official announcement is yet some ten days away so plenty of room for gossip and speculation in the build up to Spa.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...nt-at-home-of-british-grand-prix-8771357.html

One thing I found interesting (among others but I don't want to hog the chat) was contained in this little nugget:

Quote: A senior motorsport personality, who is a BRDC member, told The Independent: “A deal has been done on Silverstone. I don’t know who bought it and I don’t know what the terms are, but it is absolutely categoric that a deal has been done and not due to be announced until next month probably.” End quote (my underline)


That kind of statement always worries me when a sale of such import is left entirely in the hands of a board without the full information being consulted upon by the organisations members. I hope that the faith and confidence of the "senior motorsport personality" and fellow members is well placed. It would be a shame if the buyer turns out to be a company that can't deliver as happened in the case of Donington Park.

P.S. Oh, and one other thing I found interesting was how The Independent reporters seem to ignore all of the other motorsport activities that go on at Silverstone as if F1 is the sole reason for its continued existence. I am sure that all of the other car racing categories and the motorcycle racing fraternity are equally interested in the circuits future as well.
 
Sold to a Chinese consortium. They plan to build a hotel and shopping mall in the centre of the circuit!

:whistle:
 
There have always been plans for an hotel/s and a business/technology park.

At least if the Chinese buy the lease, there may be some decent food outlets! :)

And as long as the track and it's associated motorsports survive, I will be happy.
 
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Is Mosley behind it?
First he sold F1 rights for 100 years.

Now Silverstone has a 150 year deal.
Any guess who will receive the next deal, which, presumably will involve a 200 year deal?:whistle:
 
Reading that report reminds me that the Independent article was incorrect about what was being sold. The BRDC has not sold Silverstone. Rather it has leased out a significant proportion of the site but retains full ownership the race circuit and facilities. it's a win win situation. They have off loaded the responsibility and cost of maintaining and developing the leased area and pulled in a handy £32m. Good on 'em.
 
OK thanks Jen a bold move on the part of BT. Especially if the development is based on the current activities at the race track. It will only take Bernie to have a hissy fit and cancel the F1 at the circuit, and they are left with a large white elephant.
 
I get the impression that the development relies more heavily on the history and reputation of the circuit rather than current activities.

Even if it should lose the F1 race in the future, the circuit is still home to a great deal of other motor sport activity. The lease sale will allow the circuit to survive, hopefully, because the majority of debt incurred by the imposed upgrades has been wiped out.

And Bernie won't live for ever!
 
What.....:blink: The firing squad !! I didn't think anywhere in Europe still had the death penalty Fenderman.

Heh, heh. I meant "SHOT" as in the short hand exclamation for "Nice shot Titch " or "Well done, got it in one" or other such complimentary sentiments :D

However, in BE's case maybe firing squad by "Exhaust Blown Diffuser" might be appropriate for bringing F1 into disrepute as no-one has done before ... or since for that matter ... LOL
 
The BT Pension Fund purchase of the lease to the land is a good one all round. It has put severely needed funds into the BRDC and the track itself, along with putting the land in the hands of a group of people who have a track record of producing well managed developments with long term prospects.

If you want to see something of their track record take a look at Adastral Park in Ipswich. Once a lot of run down and unused buildings, now a busy site with a very large technology development park at the centre of it (now so well advertised and central to IT development that the Cabinet held a special meeting there about 18 months ago to talk about investment in technology and how to make it work).

I do know that BT has long been looking for a more central base for this type of work along side the Adastral location. They can sometimes struggle to get staff to join them there because it is so far out of the way (unless you live in the area or London). For a long time there was talk of Milton Keynes and the Oxford area so if this is their plan then I say good on them, will provide a lot more work in the area, not just in terms of development of the site but also going forward with long term prospects.
 
I just hope they don't end up going down the Brands Hatch route and see a lot of land used for residential developments because then (as in the case at Brands) people move in and go "oh I didn't know a motor racing circuit would make so much noise, let's call our lawyers and get that awful motor racing thing stopped".

:rolleyes:
 
Funny you should say that. A planning application for 220 houses has just been passed. The estate is about a mile from the circuit and is designed to house all the new workers once the plans for the land around the circuit comes to fruition.
 
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