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Ollie joined AS Retail in July 2024 after graduating from Northumbria University with a 2:1 in Real Estate. Whilst on his placement year and, throughout his final year of study, Ollie worked for the Northumberland Estates in the commercial property team where he had an integral involvement the asset management of a diversified property portfolio which included retail/roadside, office, industrial and leisure properties.

Ollie will be working in the agency team across our portfolio of shopping centre and high street instructions nationwide including The Square Camberley, Magna Square Egham and Addlestone One. He will also be working with our occupier clients on their site acquisition programmes and assisting across our workbook of lease advisory matters as well as high street disposals.

In his spare time Ollie enjoys socialising with friends and a variety of sports such as Rugby, Golf, Football and Skiing.

We are very excited to announce that contracts have been exchanged with Flip Out to acquire the whole of the former TJ Hughes at Lower Precinct Shopping Centre in Coventry.

The space is situated within Lower Precinct Shopping Centre close to the new Ryman store, New Look, H&M, River Island and the recently sub-divided former Next space which has been leased to Sostrene Grene, Cards Direct, The Works and The Fragrance Shop.

The premises are arranged over three floors and totals circa 43,000 sq ft with entrances on lower mall into the scheme, to the rear onto buzzing Corporation Street and upper mall level.

Flip Out intend to use the top two floors for the core Flip Out concept, which will appeal to children and families, with the lower mall being occupied by Putt Putt Noodle, their Asian themed mini-golf concept.

Flip Out are a leader in family entertainment with over 30 centres operating in the UK, and more in the pipeline. Fit out will commence shortly with an Autumn opening planned.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of the landlord commented “We are thrilled to signed Flip Out to occupy this important and prominent anchor space at Lower Precinct. We considered a number of different options and operators for this space but feel that Flip Out and Putt Putt Noodle will greatly complement our existing tenant line-up at the centre and really add something special into the city centre leisure offering. Well done and a big thanks to everyone involved in the complex negotiations. We can’t wait for the opening in the Autumn and wish the team luck with their fit out and trading.”

Lower Precinct Shopping Centre will be fully let once the last remaining unit completes this month but we potentially have asset management opportunities for occupiers to join the mix. Please contact Andrew Shepherd to discuss these further.

May & Company acted for Flip Out in the lease negotiation.

Congratulations to our Kathryn Evans who has successfully passed her APC and is now officially a Chartered Surveyor. Well deserved Kathryn!

We are very pleased to announce that Cards Direct have opened another new store, their 4^th already this year, on Cheltenham High Street.

Cards Direct have moved into the former Entertainer at 99 High Street, which is one of the largest stores they have acquired so far, sitting in close proximity to The Works, Shoe Zone and Superdrug. Other stores have opened this year in Maidenhead, Sheffield and Chesterfield with a further store scheduled to open this weekend and two further deals exchanged.

Being vertically integrated allows Cards Direct to control the quality and pricing of the product range, offering a diverse selection of really great lines, at affordable prices.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of Cards Direct commented “We are thrilled to have acquired this store on behalf of our clients, coming hot on the heels of the recent opening in Gloucester. Cards Direct are going from strength to strength and we have more stores in the pipeline for opening this year.”

We continue to search for our clients and if you have anything you feel is suitable, please send it through to Andrew Shepherd.

Thank you to Savills who advised the landlord.

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.