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AS Retail are delighted to have advised the landlord on securing B&M’s first Surrey store, which is located in Camberley.

The popular discount retailer has opened in the former BHS store on Princess Way, adjacent to The Square Shopping Centre, which comprises a ground floor sales area of 20,369 sq ft plus ancillary accommodation and boasts an extended frontage of over 40m (130 ft).

B&M have over 700 stores in the UK and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. They provide customers with a huge variety of products, all under one roof including homewares, health and beauty, DIY, electricals, gifts, toys and a range of garden accessories at very affordable prices.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail commented “We are thrilled to have successfully leased this strategically important property in Camberley to B&M after a short marketing campaign. B&M will be an excellent addition to Camberley’s in-town retail offer, driving footfall and bringing an excellent brand to the town which has been desired by the local shoppers. We need to extend a big thanks to both the landlord’s wider team and the B&M team for a smooth and swift transaction.”

AS Retail acted on behalf of the landlord with Burns Property Consultants acted for the tenant.

Acting on behalf of the landlord, AS Retail have successfully leased the former Bargain Buys on High Street in Slough to Iceland on a long-term lease.

The store is arranged over ground floor and first floor with a sales area of approx. 7,400 sq ft and it sits in a prime position in close proximity to Greggs, TK Maxx, Poundland and Specsavers.

Iceland have relocated out the way of the redevelopment at the Queensmere Observatory Shopping Centre.

Andrew Shepherd Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations commented “We are thrilled to see the new Iceland now open; it looks superb. We commenced marketing this property in Summer 2020 and it has been quite an effort owing to a lack of initial interest, assessing reconfiguration options, an 11^th hour aborted transaction when a tenant let us down and two changes of control throughout our period of instruction. Our relentless and determined marketing processes have ultimately led to us achieving an excellent result for our clients. A big thanks to the Iceland team for their professionalism and proactiveness throughout the transaction and we wish them every success with their new store.”

Mason & Partners acted for Iceland in the transaction.

We are thrilled to announce that our clients, Cancer Research UK, opened their first in-town superstore in Newcastle under Lyme recently.  Sitting on a prime location on Castle Walk, this former Poundland store provides circa 5,200 sq ft of ground floor sales space plus first floor ancillary accommodation.

CRUK have an extensive estate of ‘core’ shops and are growing their out-of-town superstore presence across GB and Northern Ireland however this new format is an exciting hybrid of both formats. The store was very well received by the local shoppers with a large gathering for the ribbon cutting and the store remained busy all day, generating much needed funds for the continuing battle against all types of cancer.

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

AS Retail advised Cancer Research UK on the negotiation and acquisition and Barker Proudlove advised the landlord.

On behalf of the landlord, AS Retail have successfully negotiated a back to back surrender and re-letting of the former Toni & Guy unit on Ascot High Street to Hat and Home, an expanding local estate agency business.

The unit totals approx. 814 sq ft and sits in a prime location close to Tesco Express, Costa Coffee, WH Smith and Guinot amongst various other independent and local businesses. Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of the landlord commented “This is a parade of shops that I have been involved with for over 10 years and we’re delighted to welcome Hat and Home to the property. They conducted themselves in a highly professional manner during this complex negotiation and we wish them every success with their branch here.”

DMA advised Toni & Guy on the lease surrender. Hat & Home represented themselves.

Exciting news as Cards Direct opened in Regent Street, Swindon at the weekend.

The unit, formerly occupied by Clinton Cards, measures 1,760 sq ft sales plus storage and sits on 100% prime pitch, adjacent to the Body Shop and in close proximity to Primark, JD Sports, WH Smith, Superdrug and Waterstones.

This is Cards Direct’s 51^st store following hot on the heels of the recent opening at Parkway in Newbury and continues to push the boundaries of the geography of the estate with more stores planned to open before Christmas.

Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail commented “We have been interested in securing representation Swindon for some time and have been waiting for the right opportunity to arise. I’m therefore delighted we’ve secured this prime unit and we’ll have further announcements of new stores soon”

 

We are absolutely delighted to announce that exciting new soccer themed leisure brand Kick X Football is coming to Addlestone One.

Kick X Football have signed for 14,000 sq ft at the front of the development opposite Nandos and will be opening this Summer. They will be bringing all sorts of innovative hybrid-football based games and technology to the region which will suit kids, families, grassroots football sides, amateur players and pros alike. Activities such as Padbol, Jorkyball, Teqball and Panna amongst others will be available.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of the landlord commented “Kick X will be an amazing addition to our tenant mix at Addlestone One, giving us another leisure anchor to sit alongside the cinema and I’m sure they will prove to be a major draw from across Surrey and South West London. I can’t wait to try it myself!”

 Watch this space for further information and their launch later this summer and do check out their social pages for more information on their planned activities.

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of luxury nail and beauty salon Townhouse Nails to the stunning Tunsgate Quarter in Guildford.

Townhouse have taken prominent unit 3A which sits in the heart of the scheme on Lower Mall with a full length return frontage on the entrance mall from High Street. Totalling just over 1,000 sq ft the salon looks amazing and is another boost to the tenant profile here.

Tunsgate Quarter sits off Guildford High Street and Tunsgate in the prime retail pitch  in Tunsgate Quarter with occupiers including The White Company, Nespresso, Ivy and Ivy Asia, Gails, Seasalt and TAG amongst others.

We have opportunities to join the line-up at this exclusive retail, leisure and dining location with units ranging from 600 – 4000 sq ft. Please contact Andrew Shepherd at AS Retail or our joint agents Bruce Gillingham Pollard for more information on availability.

The fabulous new Starbucks outlet has opened at Magna Square in Egham.

Totalling approx. 1,800 sq ft on a single level, this highly prominent unit sits opposite the 4-screen Everyman Cinema, Spielburger Restaurant and Liberto Lounge. It has frontages to busy Church Road as well as the traffic free boulevard at Magna Square where they can place external covers.

Magna Square is a £90m mixed use development in the heart of Egham town centre which also includes 101 private dwellings, 100 student beds, a new Budgens supermarket and high end hair salon G&T.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of the landlord commented “We are delighted to welcome Cobra Coffee trading as Starbucks to Magna Square. It’s by far the smartest coffee bar in town and thus far appears to have been trading incredibly well.”

There is still one remaining unit of c. 1,300 sq ft which would suit a grab and go or full catering occupier as an extraction route is in place and it is ready for immediate occupation.  Please contact Andrew Shepherd or Kathryn Evans for further information.

We are excited to announce that our long term clients Cards Direct have opened their 50^th store at Parkway Shopping Centre in Newbury, Berkshire. This is an amazing milestone for the company with more store openings to come in the next few weeks and months.

Cards Direct are an independent greetings card retailer selling a superb selection of British made cards along with gift wrap, gift bags, gifts and similar items from their store network and via their website at www.cardsdirect.co.uk.

The store network now stretches from Poole to Wolverhampton, to Lowestoft and to Folkestone with some of the next openings pushing the geography further.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail commented “We at AS Retail are delighted to be helping Cards Direct with their store acquisition programme. We already have another batch of new stores in the pipeline for 2023 opening but are still seeking more. Please get in touch with me to discuss any opportunities.”

If you have anything you feel might be suitable for Cards Direct, then please contact Andrew Shepherd with the details.

 

AS Retail are honoured to have advised Cancer Research UK on their recent acquisition of their new Superstore in Aberdeen, Scotland.  Situated at Beach Boulevard Retail Park, the 8,446 sq ft store sits between Smyths Toys and Aldi, with other occupiers including Wren, Home Bargains and Iceland, amongst others.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations commented “We are delighted to have assisted in securing this superb site for CRUK. Our good friend Nick Downing, who sadly passed away last year, put this deal together on behalf of CRUK and we are pleased to have navigated the transaction through to a successful conclusion. Going forward, we are appointed to continue Nick’s good work and are actively seeking more superstore sites in Scotland and Northern Ireland.”

We are actively seeking more sites of between 5,000 – 12,000 sq ft in busy out of town / retail park locations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Please message Andrew Shepherd or Georgina Massey for further information.

Coates & Co and Paradigm advised the landlords in the transaction.