Last week we launched our third retail store on Oxford Street to market. An interesting time for the street when in the same week, the first kiosk & trading pitch has been de-designated from the public realm. This alongside the repositioning of the department stores, arrival of Crossrail & investment into the public realm makes for a location of huge opportunity & growth.

It’s been an eventful year to say the least, but throughout its ups and downs the BGP team have remained driven and passionate in providing the right solutions for our clients.

A massive thank you to our amazing team, who have delivered some tremendous results and our best wishes to our friends in hospitality, retail & leisure, who are once again facing such a difficult time.

Our thoughts are with you all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🤶🏻

The future of retail destinations will be defined by the quality of experience.

TOCA is a great example of the evolution of retail.

A new 40,000 sq ft entertainment venue that boasts state of the art technology through its ball tracking, high quality food and generous drink offering is set to be the new Bullring anchor. Taking the top floor of the former Debenhams with M&S taking the ground and first floor.

George Oppenheim, the Property Director of TOCA states “the Bullring’s international presence, high footfall and the schemes  prominent location provides us confidence that TOCA will be a really great success in Birmingham”

Secured by Harry Cody Owen on behalf of Hammerson.

For further information regarding new opportunities within Bullring or Grand Central, speak to Harry Cody Owen, Evie North or Alex Todd.

The past two years have brought about a number of notable changes in our lives; our homes transitioned into our offices, gyms, and social hubs (albeit over Zoom). This time spent at home has influenced the interior & design industry as we are far more conscious of the spaces we live in.

Home furnishings were already the fastest growing e-commerce category in the U.S. even prior to COVID. The stay at home directive has only furthered the speed of growth towards the interior & home furnishing market.

The residential real estate market was red hot, as low mortgage rates and work-from-home freedom pushed home prices upward across the country. This encouraged opportunities for growth in the interior & design industry, with digital design marketplaces such as Chairish and 1stDibs, both known for well-curated selections aimed at discerning shoppers, successfully tapped into the collective desire to make homes feel new with just a few clicks.

After staring at the walls of our homes for months on end, it’s no great shock that many of us decided those surfaces could use new paint. Interior designers reported record growth as customers wanted not only big design moments but also for help with little updates throughout their homes to make it more liveable, functional, and to feel more complete.

We have witnessed the success of this market in the globally renown design district of Pimlico Road. Through its luxury design credentials it remains the best yardstick to measure the success of the wider industry.

There we welcomed several new operators to the street. Rose Uniake will open a second store on the street, this will house newly developed lines in paints and upholstery and Ochre are expanding their offering, both showing their recognition of the street as the best place to support business growth. Bonodea opened its first boutique as well as Sinclair Till the flooring specialist.

Our attention now focuses on the leasing of Newsons Yard. A former timber merchant that Grosvenor have been sensitively transforming to create five new retail units and two food and beverage spaces, surrounding a central double height courtyard – a new hub for the design community. This will make space for a new wave of craftspeople and designers.

https://newsonsyard.com/

For further information please contact – Charlotte Roberts, Lucy Cope or Woody Bruce.

Bruce Gillingham Pollard advised the Columbia Threadneedle UK Property Select III Fund in acquiring Kirkstall Bridge Shopping Park, Leeds for £25,200,000, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.79%.

The 120,000 sq ft site has 18 units, with occupiers including The Range, Home Bargains, Smyths Toys, Iceland, Pets at Home and JD Sports.

Andrew McGregor, Director at BGP commented ‘We are delighted to have completed our first out of town acquisition for Columbia Threadneedle, and our first purchase from London Metric. We were assisted in the acquisition by Smart 4, who helped us with the tenant audit and asset management strategy.’

LondonMetric was advised by Morgan Williams and Avison Young.

Recent court decisions that have found in favour of landlords seeking rent arrears should not be seen as the only way forward in terms of repairing retail property revenue flows.

It’s certainly too early for landlords to be celebrating unreservedly: in the instance of the most high-profile decision – which saw Westfield make a claim against The Fragrance Shop – there is a possibility that the High Court decision could be appealed.

It would be worrying if landlords saw the courts as the only remedy as it would be against their best interests. While the recent case decisions may have many landlords calling their lawyers, it needs to be remembered that making court claims for non-payment of rent is going to be a hazardous and protracted process. On a practical level, the courts are likely to be jammed with cases for many months and even then, there’s no certainty of getting a result.

Yes, there will be instances where there has been an irretrievable breakdown between the landlord and the occupier and it will be ‘see you in court’. But from a wider perspective, landlords need to be looking at their overall strategy to mend the financial damage caused by the pandemic and the exacerbation of the problems that were already facing the retail sector.

Base and turnover leases can help, but only if you can do the affordability modelling which gives you a feel for what different types of occupier can turnover in any given unit and location.  You want rents to be sustainable for the occupier and in line with what their revenues are: this protects both positions.  In this context, we created an affordability model for restaurants pre-Covid which we have developed further across various F&B sub-sectors and leisure uses.

Sharing risks and rewards greatly enhances the occupier and landlord relationship and brings more coherence to asset strategy. Winning in court may be a ‘jam today’ remedy for landlords, but it doesn’t address the longer-term issue of creating sustainable rental income.

Dan Taylor, Head of Lease Advisory was featured in Property Week talking about the challenges of lease resolutions.

Bruce Gillingham Pollard have always been at the forefront of nurturing their young team and when MD Tracey Pollard was asked to participate in the Mentoring Circle, she said yes immediately. We talk to founder Vanessa Murray prior to the official launch on International Women’s day, about why she felt that despite an increase in women in all sectors of the property market a mentoring programme was still required.

What made you start up Mentoring Circle?

Over the last few years I have worked with some really brilliant young women who don’t recognise their own strengths and are poor at promoting their own interests. This is a recurring theme that I really wanted to tackle given the lack of women in senior leadership positions in the industry. There are mentoring schemes already in existence but they tend to be for school children or focussed on mid level professionals who already have a network to lean on. I decided to set up my own scheme Mentoring Circle which partners senior female professionals with young women in the industry who have a maximum of 18 months PQE. The scheme is free, cross sector and designed as a career ‘kick start’.

There are a wide range of mentors from different sectors of the property industry, what are you hoping they will be able to offer potential candidates?

It’s really important that we collaborate as an industry particularly considering the similar challenges we are all facing. Young mentees will typically be working in specific areas of property. Exposing them to expertise outside of their direct sphere will broaden and contextualise their understanding of the industry. Most importantly, access to senior level professionals at these key developmental stages has the ability to make a really positive impact to the future careers of our mentees. As women working in an industry where this is still a disparity at top level, there is a great opportunity here to close that gap.

Why should someone apply, what do you think they will get out of mentoring?

It would be easier for me to ask that question in reverse! Who wouldn’t want to be partnered with an inspirational woman for a free quarterly mentoring session over the course of 12 months? Not only do mentees benefit from valuable mentoring with a top level professional, but they benefit from our guest speaking events which tackle broader issues like public speaking, leadership, imposter syndrome and many more. We are also holding networking events over the course of the year which mentees are required to attend to help them build their own professional network.

LinkedIn: Mentoring Circle

Instagram: @mentoringcircle