Tingdene Group continues UK expansion with marina acquisition
Property adviser Christie & Co has confirmed the sale of Farndon Marina to Tingdene Group, a company based in Northamptonshire.
Farndon Marina is situated on the River Trent near Newark in the UK county of Nottinghamshire. The 25-acre freehold site has remained under the ownership of the same family since 1966, when it was acquired and developed by Mark Ainsworth, a local entrepreneur with a background in boating.
The Tingdene Group is a family-owned business that owns, operates and develops residential parks, leisure parks and inland marinas. The firm runs ten Tingdene marinas and boat sales offices across central and southern England, with Farndon Marina becoming the 11th.
The sale of Farndon Marina supports the planned retirement of Paul Ainsworth and his wife Janet Ainsworth, who operate the marina together. Paul, the son of the original owner, has managed the business alongside Janet for several decades.
The marina features over 300 private berths and moorings. Its core revenue is derived from berthing fees and chandlery sales. Additional services include boat sales brokerage, marine maintenance, repair work and boat lifting. Investments have recently been made in operational technology and site security.
Infrastructure upgrades have also been implemented, including new amenity buildings housing workshops, visitor facilities and offices, as well as pontoon walkway improvements introduced during the sale process.
“The sale of Farndon Marina marks the end of an era for Janet and me,” says Paul Ainsworth. “It has been an emotional journey to come to the point where we will hand the business over to new owners. We have made many friends with our berth holders over the years, and we are confident that the success of Farndon will continue with the fantastic team we have on site, who will continue to be great assets to the marina.”
Ian Collier, managing director of Tingdene Group, says: “As a family business ourselves, we immediately understood the great opportunity Farndon Marina presented and the work that Paul and Janet had put in over the years. Location-wise, the business extends our marina network northwards, but from a wider group perspective, which includes both holiday and residential parks, it is very centrally positioned in the East Midlands, which works well for us.
“We are excited to welcome Farndon to the Tingdene family and will be looking at a number of investment opportunities over the coming months, which, alongside the marina, could include holiday park, motor home and touring caravan facilities and perhaps floating lodges which we’ve successfully introduced at some of our other marinas.”
Jon Patrick, head of leisure and development at Christie & Co, who managed the sale, comments: “Farndon Marina attracted a wide range of interest from inland marina operators, as well as holiday park operators and investors, resulting in a competitive bidding process for the business.
“Paul and Janet were well prepared ahead of coming to market which, together with the marketing strategy we adopted, helped to deliver a sale of the business from launch to completion in a little over four months – a very short timeframe in our experience of handling operational real estate transactions.”
Legal representation was provided by Browne Jacobson and Xeinadin on behalf of Farndon Harbour Moorings Limited and by Shoosmiths for Tingdene Group.
Leave a Reply