Stratford-upon-Avon Town Trust is corporate trustee of the Guild and College Estates. Our income is generated by a mix of equity investments and the rental of commercial and residential property. This is our endowed portfolio, the history of which dates to the 1500s.
Today, the Trust’s substantial portfolio is worth around £60 million made up of a mixture of investments and 112 properties in Stratford, including residential, commercial, land and a public carpark. All our properties are within the parish boundary of Stratford upon Avon.
We are required by the Charity Commission to maximise the return that we receive on our endowed investment as it is through this that we are able to award annual grants of around £2 million to local schools, charities, King Edward VI school, Church Street alms-houses, and Holy Trinity church.
Commercial Property
We have around 100 commercial properties all generating an annual rent for the Trust. These range from retail and cafes to warehouses and offices for small businesses. You’ll find a wide range of architectural styles, from the historic, dating back to the 14th century to concrete of the 1960s. We work with commercial property agent, Colliers to manage these.
If you have an enquiry about one of our commercial properties, please contact Izura Ikram Izura.Ikram@colliers.com
You can see a full list of our commercial properties here
and read a case study about one of our tenants here.
Residential
We have 12 residential properties spread across the town. We work with Edwards a local residential property agent to manage these.
If you have an enquiry about one of our residential properties, please contact Edward Lowe at edward@movewithedwards.co.uk
Car Park
The Civic Car Park on Rother Street operates on an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system to manage 108 spaces including 4 accessible bays. We work with specialist provider, LPS to manage the carpark and all profits received go directly towards grants for the local community
Bandstand
We are the proud custodian of the bandstand on the Recreation Ground. You can read more about our programme of summer concerts here.
The Anniversary Fountain
The fountain by British sculptor Christine Lee, a stainless-steel sculpture of two swans rising in flight as the centre piece of a fountain, was unveiled by the Queen in November 1996. It marks the 800th anniversary of the granting of market rights to the town by King Richard I and granting of Borough status by the Bishop of Worcester, both in 1196. Swans have enjoyed royal protection for many centuries and have a special symbolic significance in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The fountain is located on the Bancroft Gardens directly opposite Sheep Street and is switched on between 1st April and 1st November each year.