Category: News

Acting on behalf of our retail clients Concept Living, the London and South East franchise partner for BoConcept, we have successfully negotiated the acquisition of a new Warehouse in East London.

Concept Living have signed a long term lease for a refurbished 12,000 sq ft warehouse and office space plus parking and yard at Stirling Industrial Estate in Dagenham.

This unit will be used for the storage and distribution of furniture plus ancillary offices functions with a comprehensive fit out taking place following the whole scale refurbishment of the building by the landlord. This acquisition will bring multiple sites under one roof improving efficiencies for the company.

BoConcept are one of the global leading furniture and lifestyle brands with over 300 showrooms in more than 60 markets including a host of stores in the UK. We have acquired a number of new stores over the past few years including Cheltenham, Exeter and St Albans but are retained to search for a showroom of between 2,500 – 4,000 sq ft in South East London & North Kent specifically Bromley, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks and if you have anything you feel might be suitable please contact Andrew shepherd to discuss further.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who negotiated the deal on behalf of BoConcept commented “This is the third warehouse we have acquired for different BoConcept franchise partners over the last few years as we work with them across their estate to drive efficiencies as well as opening new retail stores. We are particularly pleased with this deal as it brings a number of different sites together under one roof and the facility will look fabulous once finished. A big thanks to the landlord team at Logicor and Kemsley who acted for them in getting the deal done and the initial refurb completed.”

 

 

We are very excited to announce that we recently concluded a deal at Connswater Retal Park, Belfast for our clients Cancer Research UK. The unit totals c 7,500 sq ft of space immediately adjacent to Lidl.  Other occupiers on the park include Home Bargains, B&M, Starbucks, Ulster Bank, McDonalds to name but a few.

Fitting out has commenced and the Superstore will open it’s doors in a few weeks time – watch this space for further information!

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who concluded the deal on behalf of CRUK commented “We are thrilled to have identified and secured this store on behalf of our clients; we look forward to seeing it open and trading shortly.”

CRUK still have an active requirement for Superstores in Northern Ireland and Scotland for between 5,000 – 10,000 sq ft so please send through anything you have to Andrew Shepherd or Georgina Massey.  David Honeyman is the appointed agent searching in England and Wales for CRUK.

Kee Commercial acted for the landlord in this deal.

Exciting news as Jetts opened its doors today in their brand new 7,000 sq ft club at 100 Burnt Oak Broadway, London.

This is the first club in North London for Jetts and is arranged with a well-proportioned ground floor lobby with the main work-out space in the basement. The club sits adjacent to the new Sainsburys Local close to the junction with Watling Avenue leading to Burnt Oak Station.

Jetts are one of the global leaders in health and fitness with 20 clubs now open in the UK and more in the pipeline.

Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail who represented Jetts in the negotiations commented “We’re thrilled to have secured this site on behalf of the Jetts’ Business Owners;  the fit out looks great and it’s the best gym in the area by far.”

We are actively looking for further sites of between 5,000 – 10,000 sq ft for Jetts throughout England & Wales (we can go larger!) so please contact Andrew Shepherd or Ollie Haxton with any opportunities you have that you feel might be suitable.

Ascent Real Estate acted for the landlord in this deal.

Photographs taken from the Jetts UK website.

Many congratulations to our clients Cards Direct on opening two new units this month, including their first unit in North West England.

We have successfully negotiated terms on a prime unit totalling nearly 3,000 sq ft within The Ladysmith Shopping Centre in Ashton Under Lyne and also acquired the former Clintons, sitting opposite Marks & Spencer and close to the car park entrance within The Woolshops in Halifax.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who conducted the negotiations on behalf of Cards Direct commented “We are pleased to have secured these stores for our clients. The store in Halifax complements the branch network we have built in Yorkshire over the last 12 months and the unit in Ashton Under Lyne is an exciting venture into a new region.”

We have more stores in the pipeline for opening this year but are still searching for opportunities nationwide, if you have anything suitable, please do sent it through to Andrew Shepherd at AS Retail.

Hynes Illingworth acted for the landlord at The Ladysmith Centre, Evolve Estates represented themselves in the Halifax transaction.

We are very happy to announce that our clients Cards Direct has recently opened two new stores as the 2025 roll out gets underway.

The first is the former Shuropody store in the cathedral city of Chichester located on North Street between M&S and The Cross and has a sales area of 1,400 sq ft. The second store opened in Hinckley where they have taken the 1,300 sq ft former Shoe Zone on prime Castle Street.

Cards Direct are a vertically integrated, family-owned retailer specialising in high quality greeting cards, gifts and party items and are proud to have been voted in the Top 100 Most Loved Retailer Brands in the UK.  They currently have over 80 stores in both high streets and shopping centres throughout the UK and are continuing to expand nationwide.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who advised Cards Direct on these two acquisition commented “ Having opened 21 new stores in 2024 we are pleased to kick off the 2025 programme with these two locations, both satisfying long-term requirements for these markets. Watch this space for more openings in the coming weeks and months”.

We already have a pipeline of new sites progressing for 2025 but are still looking for more.  Please contact Andrew at AS Retail if you have anything that might be suitable.

Smith Price RRG advised the landlord of the Chichester property, the landlord of the Hinckley property represented themselves.

AS Retail are excited to announce that Jetts Fitness have opened their fantastic club at Colton Retail Park in Leeds. This is their second club in Leeds and fourth in Yorkshire.

Colton Retail Park is approximately 4 miles to the East from Leeds City Centre and around 3.5 miles from the Leeds Rothwell club which opened in 2023.  The club totals circa 8,000 sq ft of space plus mezzanine and sits close to Sainsbury alongside a host of retailers. It looks amazing with plentiful car parking on site.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who represented Jetts in the negotiation of the site commented “We are thrilled to have secured this site for Jetts following a comprehensive search across the region for Business owners Jen and James Watson. This is Jetts’ first retail park located club in the UK and hopefully the first of many.”

We are actively looking for further sites for Jetts in London, the South East of England and all England between 5,000 – 10,000 sq ft so please contact Andrew or Ollie at AS Retail for any opportunities you have that you feel suitable.

Photographs taken from Jetts UK website.

We’re pleased to see two new catering mall kiosks opening in the Central Square at The Square Shopping Centre in Camberley.  Auntie Anne’s, who are well known internationally for their freshly baked pretzels and other products, have opened their 41^st UK outlet and Lucky Bubble, the independent high-end brand bubble tea vendor have opened their third outlet. Esquires Coffee have exchanged on the larger third pitch in Central Square and will be commencing fit out shortly.

Tehran Station, an independent deli/cafe who sell a range of high quality Persian and Mediterranean food products, has now upsized on a permanent lease from Obelisk Way to their new 1,200 sq ft unit sitting opposite TK Maxx and Deichmann on Grace Reynolds Walk.

Kathryn Evans, Senior Surveyor at letting agents AS Retail commented on Tehran Station ‘It’s great to see independent retailers flourishing within the centre and we wish them all the best success in their new unit!”

The Square Shopping Centre is the dominant shopping location in Camberley with over 100 units set within a largely covered environment. Anchor tenants include Primark, Sainsbury, Boots and New Look alongside a host of national and independent retailer and the scheme continues to thrive with further exciting announcements due later this year. We still have availability for both permanent and temporary lettings so please contact either Kathryn Evans or Ollie Haxton at AS Retail for further information.

AS Retail are pleased to announce that our clients BoConcept have opened a new showroom in Exeter, coming quickly after the recent opening in Cheltenham.

Working with the regional franchise partner who we have represented for many years, we are thrilled to have satisfied this long-standing requirement by taking Unit 5 at Dart Business Park, adjacent to various complimentary brands.

The property has a sales areas of circa 3,000 sq ft of plus warehouse space and sits directly opposite Darts Farm Village, just to the South East of Exeter City Centre, where brands such as AGA and Fired Earth are located.

BoConcept are the global leader in furniture and lifestyle design who now trade from over 20 showrooms in the UK and in excess of 300 units in 60 markets worldwide.

Andrew Shepherd, Director of AS Retail who advised BoConcept on the acquisition commented “Over the last few years we have thoroughly searched the Exeter market for the right property for BoConcept and are delighted that we have secured this unit in the face of fierce competition.”

The Landlord was represented by Stratton Creber Commercial.

Following a successful 2024, our clients Jetts are keen to expand further this year and next. The new Leeds Colton club will be opening shortly with fit out works on the Burnt Oak (London) studio commencing next month. We have other deals progressing on regional sites but are keen to further build our Greater London network which already includes Brixton, Clapham, Hammersmith, Wandsworth and Colliers Wood.

Please contact myself, Ollie Haxton or Georgina Massey at AS Retail with anything within the M25 (Zones 2-6 ideal) or indeed in the Home Counties, that you think might work between 4,000 – 12,000 sq ft – we can be quite flexible on the nature of property we look at as each location is designed bespoke. We can consider ground floors, basements (or split level spaces), Retail Parks, showrooms, retail units, new developments, trade counters, warehouse/industrial spaces, redundant offices and even former social centres or churches – all sorts.

Get in touch!

AS Retail have successfully negotiated a variety of retail deals for an Institutional Investor in the Cathedral City of Truro.

Acting on behalf of the landlord over the past few years, AS Retail have advised on the five units at 100 Pydar Street. Totalling c. 25,000 sq ft this block sits in a strong trading location on the principal shopping street; it is now fully let to excellent tenants with a robust lease profile.

Lease re-gears have been concluded with Sharps, the leading Bedroom and furniture brand, and Nationwide Building Society who entered into a reversionary lease. New 5 year leases without break options have been negotiated with HMV and Sports Direct to secure their occupation and finally, after a lengthy marketing campaign where other deals have been agreed but aborted, the former Next at Unit 1, totalling circa 16,000 sq ft over ground and second floors, has been successfully let to Poundstretcher who are currently fitting out.

Andrew Shepherd, Director at AS Retail who advised the landlord on all the transactions commented ‘We were asked to assist by this major landlord in 2021; over the last five years we’ve worked relentlessly, against a challenging backdrop, to optimise the asset for them. Various connotations of deals have been negotiated with the different occupiers and we are thrilled that Poundstretcher have taken the whole of the former Next store, making the block 100% let. This unit is subject to a highly inflated Rateable Value and in order to make the deal work for both the landlord and the tenant we found a very creative deal structure which, credit to Poundstretcher, they were happy to embrace. We thank them for their efforts in getting the deal done and wish them success with their trading.”

We at AS Retail are currently advising on other similar situations nationwide but please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any assistance on your portfolio.

Local agent Miller Commercial acted jointly with us in the marketing of Unit 1. Mason & Partners acted for Poundstretcher, Green & Partners acted for Sports Direct and LSH acted for Nationwide. HMV and Sharps represented themselves.