Charles Russell Speechlys has advised The Real Experience Group on its acquisition of the Experience English group of companies from TUI Travel.

The Real Experience Group is an Irish-based company with several brands that offer a mix of travel, language, and education opportunities. The acquisition adds four schools in York, Manchester, London (Hampstead) and Edinburgh to its portfolio. The new brands will trade alongside one another as each appeals to a different student demographic.

Mark Bush, the Managing Director of The Real Experience Group, commented:

“This acquisition was in line with the company’s growth plans to expand its language teaching interests. We believe the Experience English brand is growing in strength and has resonance within the market; the heritage of schools in the group such as the Hampstead School of English has been well preserved.”

Karen Smith-Watson, the CEO, commented:

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Mark Howard, Rebecca Burford and their team to successfully conclude the recent acquisition of Experience English, a reputable chain of language schools operating out of the UK. We were up against a tight timescale and found the team extremely responsive to this, without compromising on the quality of advice or output. As always, I found their approach to be well balanced with a good commercial understanding of the business and its objectives relating to this deal.”

Mark Howard, Corporate Partner, said:

“This is the third acquisition that we have successfully advised The Real Experience Group on, the first two being the acquisitions of The English Studios Limited and of i-to-i TEFL. It is rewarding and fun working with Karen and her team as they execute their exciting growth strategy. We look forward to working with them again in the future.”

The Charles Russell Speechlys team was led by Corporate Partner Mark Howard and Senior Associate Rebecca Burford, and was assisted by Jonathan Steele (Corporate), Samuel Milne (Corporate), Archie Sherbrooke (Property), David Thomson (Property), Caroline Swain (Commercial), Caroline Young (Intellectual Property), Hollie Ryan (Employment), Andy Williams (Pensions), and Helen Coward (Tax).