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We are delighted to have advised our clients Poppy’s on their second high street space on Coombe Lane in the lovely London neighbourhood of Raynes Park.

Following the success of their East Sheen branch which opened in 2024, we were instructed to secure a space that reflects their modern, open approach to the funeral sector. This former café, totalling c 950 sq ft sits close to the station on the busy high street parade and provides the perfect community setting for them to continue their growth. Poppy’s are pioneers in this sector, are a Certified B Corporation and more on their ethos, values and activities can be found at www.poppysfunerals.co.uk

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of Poppy’s commented “Working with the Poppy’s management team we identified a small selection of ideal neighbourhoods for their second store; after a rigorous search we are thrilled to have secured this space for them which looks fantastic.’

Wilmotts acted for the landlord.

We are thrilled to share that the global beauty brand Rituals have opened their new store at Old George Mall in Salisbury.

Rituals started in Amsterdam in 2000 and has grown into a worldwide leader in its field, operating in over 33 countries. The fit-outs are amazing and in store you will be able to find a variety of high-end body, bath and home products.  It will be a great addition to the tenant mix in the centre and to Salisbury itself.

Andrew shepherd Director at AS Retail commented ‘We are pleased to welcome Rituals at Old George Mall. Having acquired the corner entrance of the scheme at New Canal they frame the centre fabulously with Pret on the other corner. We have more openings planned shortly including global footwear brand Skechers but do have spaces for brands to join the line-up’.

AS Retail and Time Retail Partners are the leasing agents at Old George Mall. Sense RPC acted for Rituals.

We are very excited to see that our clients Jetts Fitness have opened their latest club on Kirkstall Road, Leeds.

They have taken a new long term lease on the former Coach Gym adjacent to Asda. With 24/7 opening hours and free parking plus the great fit out, superb equipment and fantastic vibe it’s already proving to be major hit with the local population, some of whom have been calling it the best gym in Leeds on their social media posts.

With 23 gyms now open in the UK and the new club in Harlesden (London) in the final stages of fit out, plus many more in the pipeline, we are proud to be supporting Jetts to expand their estate nationwide.

Andrew Shepherd, director of AS Retail who conducted the negotiations and secured the site for Jetts commented ‘We are delighted to have secured this location on behalf of our clients. It’s the forth club for our business owners and our third in Leeds. A big thank you to the team at Asda who helped process the transaction smoothly.’

Despite the strong pipeline we are actively seeking more opportunities of between 5,000 – 10,000 sq ft for Jetts with priority areas in Greater London, The Home Counties, South East, M4 Corridor. East & West Midlands and Yorkshire. If you have anything you feel might be suitable please do send it through to Andrew Shepherd or Ollie Haxton at AS Retail.

 

We are delighted to welcome quality home wear brand Feather & Black to Tottenham Court Road.

Acting on behalf of Danish furniture and lifestyle brand BoConcept, we at AS Retail have advised jointly with the team at Kenningham Retail in securing a sub-letting of surplus prime retail space adjacent to the UK BoConcept flagship store on Tottenham Court Road to Dreams, to trade as their Feather & Black concept.

The surplus space was previously occupied by HSBC and more latterly Sleep 8. Totalling c 2,500 sq ft over ground floor only we are delighted to have secured Feather & Black who will be an excellent neighbour to BoConcept.

Terms were agreed for a co-terminus sub-lease and the new store opened just before Christmas.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who advised on the deal commented ‘We’re thrilled to have secured Feather & Black for this property.. It was a monumental effort from everyone involved on all sides of the deal including the ‘home’ team, the team at Dreams but also at the landlord and superior landlord in order to get the deal done in such a tight timetable to allow for Christmas trade. Thanks to everyone for their efforts.”

AS Retail also advised BoConcept recently on a lease regear at the adjacent flagship store to secure their long term future in this location and provide for a total refurbishment of the store.

 

We are excited to announce that our clients Jetts Fitness have opened their new club in the lovely Staffordshire city of Lichfield.

Located at Lichfield Retail Park immediately adjacent to Wickes and Pets at Home, the unit totals c 7,225 sq ft. Within the incredible fit out there is state-of-the-art gym equipment from partners such as Wolveson, Drax and Hoist as well as a sprint track and cardio zone. They will also hold Reformer Pilates classes which is the first in the Jetts UK estate.

Jetts are one of the global leaders in health & fitness with their affordable boutique fitness model now having well over 20 clubs in England and a strong pipeline of new openings in place for 2026.

Ollie Haxton, Surveyor at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations and secured the site for Jetts commented ‘I’m delighted to see the Lichfield club open. It looks fantastic and we wish business owners Dean & Jag the best of luck.”

We are actively looking for further sites for Jetts across the UK for between 5,000 – 10,000 sq ft (and can go larger) so please contact Andrew Shepherd or Ollie Haxton  with any opportunities you have that you feel might be suitable.

Morgan Williams acted for the Landlord.

We’re excited to confirm the news that Greggs have recently opened its doors in their new and improved shop on Queensmead in Farnborough.

Greggs have relocated two doors up from their old store at 68 Queensmead to 62-64 Queenemead which is circa 2,200 sq ft and is double fronted, increasing the prominence of the store and allowing them to bring in more covers for eating in.

The store was previously occupied by Shoe Zone who recently relocated and upsized themselves into c 4,000 sq ft opposite; another AS Retail deal.

The old Greggs has already been let to a male grooming salon and barbers salon with their fit out due to commence imminently.

Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail who advised the landlord on all three lettings commented “We’re really pleased to see the new Greggs open and trading, it looks fabulous and is the ideal backfill for the former Shoe Zone. Over the last few years we have worked hard to improve the tenant mix on this parade which benefits from a very low service charge and has remained a strong pitch in terms of footfall and tenant performance, whereas the two shopping centres in the town have their struggles. The parade is now 100% let but we potentially have some asset management initiatives in 2026 so please do contact me to discuss any requirements for the town. ”

Thanks to the team at Stephen Kane & Co who acted for Greggs as well and the wider teams on the landlord and tenant sides who made it happen. Ramsdens acted for Shoe Zone in the relocation last year and the Grooming Salon were unrepresented.

 

Congratulations to our clients Cards Direct who have recently opened its latest store at The Kingsgate Centre in Huddersfield.

We have successfully negotiated a long-term lease on Unit 7 which was previously occupied by Trespass. The unit comprises c 2,100 sq ft at ground floor with a 680 sq ft mezzanine storage area and sits close to other new openings including Lovisa and Holland & Barrett, with the new Boots store coming soon.

This is their 88^th store with three more planned to open before Christmas including the exciting new stores at The Eastgate Centre in Basildon and on Victoria Street in Blackpool, where fit out has commenced on both.

Andrew Shepherd, director of AS Retail who conducted all the negotiations on behalf of Cards Direct commented “Having populated much of Yorkshire in 2024, Huddersfield remained an outstanding requirement and we’re thrilled to have secured this prime unit, joining the rapidly evolving tenant mix at The Kingsgate Centre which has come on leaps and bounds in the last 18 months. Hot on the heels of this opening will be new store in Basildon, another long-term requirement now fulfilled, and Blackpool with one other new unit in North West commencing fit out next week’

We continue to search nationwide for our clients as we build an acquisition pipeline for 2026 and push towards the 100 store milestone; if you have anything you feel is suitable please send it through to Andrew Shepherd.

Newns Webster acted for the Landlord in Huddersfield. Jamieson Mills acted for the Landlord in Basildon and Barker Proudlove acted for the landlord in Blackpool.

Earlier this month Andrew and Ollie attended the inaugural Jetts Fitness UK Gathering and as you can see it was all work.

Our clients Jetts Fitness now have 22 fantastic clubs in the UK and we have advised them on most of them over the last seven or eight years. This gathering was an opportunity for the Support Office, Business Owners, Club managers and staff as well as various suppliers to Jetts to get together for networking, strategizing and to get some well-earned sun just as the weather turns for the worse.

Held at the fantastic Club La Santa in Lanzarote, the boys got to play some Padel (badly), do sunset Yoga (also badly) but also enjoy the 400m running track and 50m Olympic pool as well as enjoying the seminar sessions and some networking with the Jetts Family.

We were also thrilled to have won Jetts Supply Partner of the Year; a big thanks to all that voted for us and we look forward to helping with the accelerating roll out into 2026 and beyond.

The latest openings are in Lichfield and Basingstoke with more planned before Xmas and into the New Year. Please do contact us to discuss any suitable opportunities that you may have for Jetts.

Our clients Traid are seeking another fabulous showroom in Greater London to add to their portfolio.

They already have 13 stores across London including Camden, Clapham, Brixton, Hammersmith, Lewisham, Dalston & Westbourne Grove.

We are seeking a unit of ideally 1,500 – 2,500 sq ft sales (we can potentially go smaller in some areas) in the following priority locations:

Walworth Road                  Wimbledon
Richmond                             Islington
Fulham                                  Stratford
Ealing                                     Greenwich

Other locations will be considered.

Traid offer a great covenant, will take long term leases and can pay market rents for the right space in the right location.

Please contact Andrew at AS Retail if you have anything you feel suitable.

We are delighted to confirm that our clients Jetts Fitness have opened in the Hampshire town of Basingstoke.

Jetts have acquired a new lease on a unit of approximately 6,600 sq ft at Chineham Shopping Centre just to the north of the town centre. This is an exciting location for Jetts to open as the development is anchored by Tesco with other occupiers in the scheme including M&S Foodhall, Pets Corner, Boots and Greggs and with ample free car parking plus the scheme being surrounding by housing stock and commercial occupiers.

Jetts are one of the global leaders in health and fitness with over 20 clubs now open in the UK and more in the pipeline. Each club is designed bespoke and tailored to the individual market with the equipment mix within the Basingstoke club curated to match the gaps in the market all set within the premium feeling environment.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations and secured the site for Jetts commented  “We were so pleased to secure this space for our client. Our business owner here is local to the location and was adamant that he wanted a club in his home town; we had to be patient with the search but have secured a great site. We will Vishnu and the team well.”

We are actively looking for further sites for Jetts across the UK for between 5,000 – 10,000 sq ft so please contact Andrew Shepherd or Ollie Haxton with any opportunities you have that you feel might be suitable.