The Peel Group

The Peel Group

Type	Private
Industry	Infrastructure, Land and Property, Ports, Transport, Media
Founded	as Peel Mills (1920–71) as Peel Holdings (1971–2004) as The Peel Group (since 2004)
Headquarters	The Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Number of locations	North West England
Key people	John Whittaker (Chairman)
Total assets	£6.6 billion (2011)
Owner	John Whittaker (75%) The Olayan Group (25%)
Number of employees	5,000
Divisions	14 divisions Peel Advertising Peel Airports Peel Energy Peel Environmental Peel Hotels Peel Industrial Peel Land Peel Media Peel Offices Peel Ports Peel Property Peel Residential Peel Utilities
Website	Peel Group Website

The Peel Group (commonly known by its former name Peel Holdings) is a private real estate, media, transport and infrastructure investment company located in the United Kingdom. Peel's extensive real estate assets consist of 850,000 square metres (9 million square feet) of investment property and over 13,000 hectares (33,000 acres) of land. Peel is one of the largest property investment companies in the United Kingdom, and has its head office at the Trafford Centre, in Greater Manchester.

The Trafford Centre, which opened in 1998, was Peel's first major foray into real estate development. The centre was sold in 2011 to Capital Shopping Centres (now Intu Properties) for £1.6 billion, making it the largest property acquisition in British history and the biggest European property deal of 2011. Other projects which Peel have developed include MediaCityUK and Scout Moor Wind Farm.

The group is led by John Whittaker, who maintains a 75% majority stake in the group, with the Olayan Group owning a minority 25% stake. It's long term aim is to make the North West of England the leading economic region in the United Kingdom. The majority of its developments are concentrated in the region. The group is currently focused on the £50 billion Ocean Gateway development for North West England.

Between 1971 and 1987, the group's founder, John Whittaker, acquired Peel Mills, John Bright's and the Manchester Ship Canal Company. John Whittaker was born in Lancashire, and many of his ancestors were involved in the cotton industry. The company evolved into Peel Holdings to reflect its status as a property investment company, abandoning the name of Peel Mills. The group remained quiet for the next decade, with little development, and from 1971 to 1987, the group focused on purchasing shares in the Manchester Ship Canal Company. The underused ship canal had fallen into disrepair, its size too small for many of the seafaring vessels of the time. By the mid-1980s, Whittaker had acquired the majority of the shares in the company, and in 1987, with the necessary shares, the group privatised the Manchester Ship Canal, despite opposition from Manchester City Council. Peel and the Manchester Council have consequently endured a difficult relationship, with Manchester Council being more ambivalent towards Peel's proposals than those of other Greater Manchester councils, where most of Peel's investments are situated. Most recently, in 2011, a proposal to build an eight-storey block of flats in the historic district of Castlefield was rejected for the fifth time by Manchester City Council. The Ship Canal has consequently become a key hub for the Peel Group, with numerous developments on the banks of the canal.