EiG: Managed Expert exits; REIT status and regional growth

Following Ei Group’s H1 trading update, MCA spoke to chief executive Simon Townsend.  He discussed what the group’s revised growth prospects mean for the long-term goal of converting to a REIT. He also spoke about the where growth would come from in the managed estate, timetabling eventual exits from the Managed Investment partnerships and the first new site for its joint venture with PubLove. On the tenanted and leased estate, he said that while the Midlands and the north of England had slipped into negative like-for-likes, the long-term recovery of these areas remains on track.