Board change

Unite Group PLC
02 January 2008

Date:                            02 January 2008

On behalf of:                  The UNITE Group plc





                         UNITE ANNOUNCES BOARD CHANGES


The Board of The UNITE Group plc ('UNITE' / 'Group'), the UK's leading provider
of student accommodation, today announces that Tony Harris, Chief Financial
Officer, will step down from the Board on 2 January 2008 by mutual agreement.
After an orderly handover period he will then leave the Group at the end of
January.  Joe Lister, who has been with UNITE for over five years, has been
appointed to succeed Tony as Chief Financial Officer and will join the Board on
2nd January.



Joe (36) qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in
1997. He joined UNITE as Corporate Finance Manager in May 2002, was promoted to
Corporate Finance Director in January 2004 and to Investment Director in
December 2005. Working closely with Mark Allan, he led the teams responsible for
a number of significant financing transactions, most notably the establishment
of the £350 million Capital Cities Joint Venture with GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd
(March 2005) and the £1 billion UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund (November
2006). Joe has also been responsible for arranging numerous debt facilities with
a large number of the Group's lenders.



In January 2007, Joe was appointed Managing Director, responsible for the
successful pilot of the Group's Graduate Housing business, Livocity.



Geoffrey Maddrell, Chairman of UNITE, said:



'We are delighted to welcome Joe to the Board as Chief Financial Officer. He
brings with him a deep understanding of our business built up over the past five
years and has broad experience across the financial community particularly in
bringing new sources of capital to the Group through the creation of funds and
strategic joint ventures. UNITE has a strong culture of internal development and
I would like to congratulate Joe Lister on his appointment.



'I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tony Harris very much for
his contribution and wish him every success in the future.'



No further details remain to be disclosed for the appointment as required under
LR 9.6.13R of the Listing Rules of the UK Listing Authority.



                                      ENDS



For further details please contact:


Mark Allan                                       Telephone: [phone]

Tabitha Aldrich-Smith                            Telephone: [phone]

The UNITE Group plc                              Email: [e-mail]


Stephanie Highett / Dido Laurimore               Telephone: [phone]

Financial Dynamics                               Email: [e-mail] / [e-mail]







About UNITE



  • UNITE is the UK's leading provider of student accommodation;
  • UNITE currently operates accommodation for 38,000 students in key
    university markets across England, Wales and Scotland
  • The value of UNITE's completed property portfolio is estimated to be worth
    £2 billion.
  • UNITE has a dedicated website for students who are looking to find
    accommodation at www.unite-students.com
  • UNITE is a founding member of the ANUK Code of Standards for Larger
    Developments, all properties are signed up to this code ensuring high
    standards of accommodation, service and security.



UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund



At the end of 2006, UNITE established the £1billion UNITE UK Student
Accommodation Fund and sold an initial portfolio to it for £515 million. The
principal objectives of this transaction were:

  • to release capital that was tied up in mature, stabilised investment
    assets for investment into higher added value development activity;
  • to provide UNITE with more growth capital in the medium term; and
  • to diversify UNITE's sources of income by providing a new, valuable
    revenue stream arising from management fees from the Fund.



The Fund helped transform UNITE's business model to that of developer of new
purpose-built student accommodation and manager of funds which own student
accommodation properties operated by UNITE and in which the Group has a
significant minority stake.



UNITE Student Accommodation, designed for students



  • Dedicated on-site hospitality management team offering 24/7 support to
    customers.
  • A wide choice of rooms available from single studio flats for students who
    want to live on their own, or, typically 5/6 bedroom flats to share with
    friends.
  • Common room facilities, including Sky TV and pool tables, are often used
    for social events. A number of properties offer gyms exclusively for
    residents' use.
  • Rents and availability vary in each town/city and a variety of payment
    plans are in place to suit students.



UNITE focuses on the provision and management of high quality, well-located
student accommodation and hospitality services at affordable prices in strong
higher education markets. UNITE undertakes the planning work, development and
management of sites, often working closely with the Universities and Colleges to
deliver accommodation for students across all ages and nationalities. UNITE
developments typically show high occupancy levels as demand continues to rise
for places on UK Higher Education courses and for high-quality, safe
accommodation.




                      This information is provided by RNS
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