The Metro Shopping Fund ("Metro" / "Fund"), the 50/50 London retail joint venture partnership between Land Securities Group PLC ("Land Securities") and Delancey, has secured a new letting to Apostrophe, the privately-owned boulangerie-patisserie, in the northern block of their holding in Notting Hill Gate, London W11.

Apostrophe has taken a 2,066 sq ft (192 sq m) unit at 138 Notting Hill Gate, adjacent to GAP, on a 15-year lease outside the Act at an annual rent of £101,250. With existing branches in locations including St Christopher's Place, W1, Regent Street, W1, and Ludgate Hill, EC4, this latest opening will constitute the retailer's ninth store in London and forms part of a wider programme to grow their business to affluent catchment areas throughout London.

Additionally, the Fund has secured three new office lettings totalling approximately 9,000 sq ft (836 sq m), to Transport for London, Oliver Fisher Solicitors and Paul McKenna Training, leaving only an office suite of 625 sq ft (58 sq m) available.

Metro's Notting Hill Gate holding provides circa 220,000 sq ft (20,438 sq m) of mixed-use accommodation comprising retail, restaurants, offices and residential, all of which are located around Notting Hill Gate underground station. The holding comprises five retail blocks, with tenants in the prominent northern block including M&S Simply Food, GAP, Lombok, Starbucks and Phase Eight.

Steve Burgin, Director of Retail Asset Management at Delancey, commented on behalf of the Metro Shopping Fund:

"We are delighted to have secured over 11,000 sq ft of new office and retail lettings at the Notting Hill Gate scheme.

"Apostrophe, in particular, is an exciting new operator, expected to attract local residents as well as office workers and shoppers. This opening in Notting Hill Gate will broaden the offer of quality food concepts in the Metro holding. Through an active asset management programme, leveraging both Delancey's and Land Securities' expertise, we continue to strive to create a retail and dining experience that will meet the demands of the affluent catchment in which the holding sits."

Mark Ashton, Head of Retail Portfolio Management at Land Securities, said:

"Apostrophe is the latest in a series of lettings in our continued programme to ensure that the retail mix across the Metro Fund's Notting Hill Gate estate anticipates customer demand. This new operator is ideally suited to the estate's catchment pofile and we will be looking to introduce other new concepts in due course."

Amir Chen, Managing Director of Apostrophe, commented:

"Each one of our branches is individually designed to accommodate the local customer base. In Notting Hill Gate we will have a comfortable lounge area with a large blackboard for kids to draw on and plenty of space for prams. We have also recognised the lack of places in the area to conduct meetings outside the office, and have designed a large meeting table accommodating eight people."

Metro acquired the Notting Hill Gate holding in June 2004, the Fund currently has a value of over £0.5bn, with five London retail assets covering nearly 1 million sq ft (92,900 sq m) of space. The other assets owned by Metro are Shopstop @ Clapham Junction, SW11; Southside, SW18; Victoria Place, SW1; and N1, Islington.

The Metro Shopping Fund is advised by CWM and Savills on retail lettings and LSM Partners on office accommodation. Apostrophe was advised by Ian Scott International.

For further information, please contact:
Delancey
Sally Hands
Tel: +44 (0)20 7448 1448

Financial Dynamics (for Metro)
Dido Laurimore / Stephanie Highett
Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113

Apostrophe Restaurants Ltd
Amir Chen
Tel: +44 (0)20 7583 8555

Notes to Editors

Delancey

Delancey is an investment adviser with a reputation for consistently delivering significant returns across a wide spectrum of real estate and asset backed opportunities on behalf of its international investor base.

Land Securities

At Land Securities we have established a reputation as one of the industry's most active and forward thinking owners and managers of retail property. Our retail team is dedicated to building enduring relationships with our occupiers and we are committed to understanding their business needs.

As part of the Land Securities Group, the UK's largest commercial quoted property company, our £7bn retail portfolio extends across the UK and includes 30 shopping centres, 30 retail parks, ten food superstores and retail properties in London. We provide accommodation to over 1,600 occupiers who benefit from the footfall of an estimated 300 million customer visits to our portfolio each year.

We are also planning a major development programme which will add a further 3.5 million sq ft of retail space to our 20 million square foot portfolio over the next five years. This new generation of retail locations represents a £1billion investment by us and has been designed to transform the physical and economic fabric of the urban centres in which they will be located.

Metro Shopping Fund Limited

The Metro Shopping Fund was established in June 2004 as a 50/50 partnership between Delancey and Land Securities Group PLC. The Fund's total assets cover nearly 1 million sq ft (92,900 sq m) of space, across London, valued at approximately £0.5 billion.

Apostrophe Restaurants Limited

Apostrophe combines the high quality food values of a traditional boulangerie-patisserie with a modern, service-orientated customer environment. The emphasis is firmly on fresh ingredients and presentation. There is no chain-style fast food service, pre-packaging or refrigerated self-service displays. Diners eating-in can enjoy food on china crockery with stainless steel cutlery and the daily papers scattered amongst pots of jams and jugs of water with lemon.

Apostrophe offers a wide range of freshly-baked and prepared sandwiches, expertly displayed to showcase the freshness of ingredients and the varied range. Complementing the sandwiches is a large selection of sweet and savoury pastries, with products developed exclusively for Apostrophe, including gluten, wheat free and organic choices. There is also an extensive range of organic breads, freshly squeezed juices and leaf teas. Coffee at Apostrophe is taken seriously and is an integral part of their philosophy, and its baristas are trained to achieve results with the coffee quality and the frothing of the milk that are rarely seen in the UK.