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We are thrilled to announce that three more occupiers have committed to Brightwells Yard in Farnham.

Everyone’s favourite chicken restaurant Nandos have signed to take RU5 of approx. 4,000 sq ft close to the new 6-screen Reel Cinema. Affordable premium health and fitness brand Jetts have signed on 9,500 sq ft facing onto the gardens and regional soft play operator Pirates Landing have secured a 6,500 sq ft which looks across to the Town Square.

Brightwells Yard, which will be opening this Summer, is an exciting mixed use development set within a pedestrianised streetscaped Town Square and Gardens. It will have around 100,000 sq ft of commercial set around 35 units served by 400 car parking spaces and sitting alongside 250 apartments.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who is leading on leasing commented “We are delighted to have secured these three fantastic brands. There are three more deals very close to signing, another couple about to go into legals plus a high level of interest in Brightwells now the cinema is open and the development is almost ready.”

There are still opportunities to join the line-up with units between 800 – 8,000 sq ft still available for retail, leisure, catering and service sector brands.  Please contact Andrew Shepherd and Kathryn Evans for further information.

 

We at AS Retail have represented our clients Cancer Research UK on their forced relocation in Oakham.

CRUK have taken the opportunity to open in a slightly new format having taken a 3,500 sq ft destination store on the edge of town at Tungsten Business Park close to Screwfix, Howdens and Toolstation. The unit is three smaller spaces combined coupled with 12 dedicated customer car parking spaces. With two separate entrances it will be a dedicated donation hub as well as a retail store, with internal connection between the sections allowing customers to drop then shop.

Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail commented “After an extensive search of the opportunities in Oakham we are delighted to have secured this property for our clients and we wish them well for the new format.”

Philips Sutton acted for the landlord.

We are very excited to announce that we have been appointed as joint letting agents at Old George Mall in Salisbury.

This open air, single level scheme sits in the heart of the city centre and comprises circa 40 units, totalling over 200,000 sq ft with anchors including M&S and the newly opened 45,000 sq ft Primark which has boosted footfall. Other brands represented include H&M, Deichmann, Waterstones, WH Smith, 3 Store, Fat Face and Lakeland to name a few.

There is an excellent catering offer including Pret, Boston Tea Party, Costa Coffee, Greggs and Hixon.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail commented “We are thrilled to have been invited to assist with the leasing of Old George Mall. We are looking to build upon the exciting platform created over the last few years which have included the new Primark and Deichmann stores.”

We have a range of opportunities immediately available from 500 – 2,000 sq ft for retail, leisure, catering and service sector occupiers and please contact Andrew Shepherd or Kathryn Evans at AS Retail or our joint agents Time Retail to discuss the opportunities further.

AS Retail are very excited to announce that all four retail units of the split of the former Next store in Lower Precinct Coventry have now been let. It has been a huge team effort from the landlord and tenant project teams with fit out works commencing shortly.

Three of the brands are new to the city which is testament to the improvements to Coventry City Centre over the last few years and the exciting times ahead of it.

Søstrene Grene, the expanding Danish home store, have taken the entire upper mall space between River Island and 02 of approx. 6,500 sq ft. The Fragrance Shop and Cards Direct have taken two of the three units on the Lower Mall between Pandora and Sherbourne Arcade mall with The Works taking the remaining unit sitting in-between them for their relocated and upsized store.

We look forward to seeing all four brands open and trading soon.

AS Retail are the letting agents for Lower Precinct and conducted three of the four transactions. Wright Silverwood and Space are our joint agents. Haynes Illingworth acted for Søstrene Grene, CBRE acted for The Fragrance Shop.

Following hot on the heels of the opening in Maidenhead, our clients Cards Direct have just opened their second store in 2024, this time at Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre in Sheffield.

Cards Direct have acquired a new long-term lease on the 1,500 sq ft former Shoe Zone store where West Mall meets Central Atrium. It sits in a highly prominent location close to WH Smith, Fragrance Shop, Deichmann and Iceland.

Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail commented “Two more openings in quick succession is a great start to 2024 for Cards Direct and there will be more to come across England during the course of the year.”

More openings are already in the pipeline for this year and we are still searching for more sites across the UK. Please contact us to discuss the requirement further or send through anything you have of interest to Andrew Shepherd at AS Retail.

Douglas Stevens & Co advised the landlord.

Our clients have just opened their 25^th UK showroom in the picturesque town of Cheltenham.

BoConcept have acquired a lease on the former Hammonds furniture store at Unit 2, Market Place Retail Park. Totalling 3,845 sq ft of retail space over a single level and sitting immediately adjacent to Schmidt Kitchens, the showroom is highly visible from Fairview Road, the inner-ring road.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail, who conducted the negotiations on behalf of our client commented “We have been searching for the perfect property in Cheltenham for BoConcept for some time and are thrilled to have secured this superb location. We do have selected requirements for 2024 and please contact me to discuss any sites which might be of interest.”

BoConcept originated in 1952 as a small store in Demark and are now one of the globe’s largest furniture and lifestyle retailers with over 300 showrooms in 60 countries and with a strong UK presence including stunning showrooms in London, Cardiff, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Inspired by Danish design, the store is full of beautifully designed furniture, storage ideas and accessories with experts to help with the perfect style for every home.

John Ryde Commercial acted for the landlord in the negotiations. Pinney Talfourd advised BoConcept on the legals.

We are thrilled that the new six-screen boutique Reel cinema has now opened at Brightwells Yard in Farnham.

Brightwells sits in the town centre of lovely Farnham, Surrey. It’s an open air, street-scaped 35 unit mixed use development set around gardens and a new town square alongside 250 apartments and a new car park. Reel are the first commercial occupier to open at this fantastic new development with Coppa Club also committed to the scheme. We will be announcing further new additions to Brightwells shortly and are looking forward to getting occupiers open and trading for the warmer weather.

We at AS Retail are the commercial leasing agents for the development and please contact either Andrew or Kathryn to discuss current availability for retail, catering and leisure uses as we have spaces ranging from 700 – 8,000 sq ft that would suit national, regional and independent occupiers.

Cards Direct keep on going, opening this time in the Derbion Shopping Centre, Derby and just in time for Christmas!

On behalf of our clients we successfully negotiated terms on the 2,200 sq ft former Game unit on the Lower North Mall, close to Sostrene Grene, Mountain Warehouse and the new Frasers Department Store amongst others.

Their strapline is ‘Making People Smile’ and they certainly do with the fabulous greeting cards, gifts, balloons and partywear offering super value for money from their 50+ store network and via their transactional website www.cardsdirect.co.uk.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail commented “Yet another opening for Cards Direct! Following quickly on the back of recent store openings in Bristol, Bognor Regis and Fareham this is a super unit in a very good shopping centre. Good luck to the team and a big thanks to Alan Pearson at FHP who acted for the landlord.

We have more stores in the pipeline and new ones are required for next year so, if you have anything suitable, please do sent it through to Andrew Shepherd.

Really exciting news as Sixes, the cricket themed competitive socialising brand, have signed to take c. 7,000 sq ft at the stunning Tunsgate Quarter in Guildford with fit-out commencing shortly.  Sixes will be situated on the upper level close to The Ivy and will complement the existing quality line-up which includes Oka, Loaf, The White Company, The Ivy Asia, Gails Bakery, Cosy Club and Pho to name but a few.

The concept brings people together, designed for all ages to go and play a challenging game of Social Cricket along with great hospitality; a fabulous social activity for Guildford and a fantastic addition to the town centre offering which is going from strength to strength.

Bruce Gillingham Pollard, our joint agents on the scheme, negotiated the deal on behalf of the landlord. Well done!

There are only now a couple of small units available in the scheme so please contact Andrew Shepherd or Kathryn Evans.

Acting on behalf of CRUK, AS Retail have successfully negotiated the acquisition of their new, larger, store in Nuneaton which has recently opened.

CRUK now trade from circa 2,500 sq ft at 132 Abbey Street. Sitting close to the entrance of The Abbeygate Shopping Centre other occupiers in close proximity include Rymans, Card Factory and Loungers.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail commented “We are delighted to have secured this property in behalf of our clients. Not only is it considerably larger than their old property on Church Street, it is a significant improvement in pitch. Good luck to the store team.”

We are retained to search for new CRUK Superstores in Scotland and Northern Ireland and are able to consider in-town superstore opportunities across the UK of c 3,000 sq ft upwards – please contact Andrew Shepherd or Georgina Massey if you have anything that might suit or to discuss the requirement in more detail.

Loveitts acted on behalf of the landlord.