Head of our national team, Victoria Broadhead is delighted to announce that popular artisan bakery chain, GAIL’s, opened in Tunsgate Quarter, Guildford on October 29th 2020.

Set up in 2005 by Tom Molnar and Ran Avidan, GAIL’s opened its first bakery in Hampstead with the aim of making world class artisan bread accessible for all.  The quality of the product, combined with a strong neighbourhood ethos, has seen GAIL’s evolve to a popular choice not only for high quality freshly baked goods to take away, but as a lunch destination for sandwiches, cakes and quiches, as well as an award-winning house coffee blend.

Tunsgate Quarter is already home to top lifestyle brands including The White Company, Nespresso, OKA and Bobbi Brown.   Whilst the opening of GAIL’s will further strengthen Tunsgate Quarter’s enviable food and beverage offering, which already includes The Ivy Brasserie, Vietnamese Pho and Cosy Club.

Bruce Gillingham Pollard have advised London Metric PLC on the acquisition of 5 food stores, let to Waitrose, for £62 million. All 5 stores are let on new 20 year leases. The stores range in size from 27,000 sq ft to 43,000 sq ft, located in Keynsham, Malmesbury, Paddock Wood (Kent), Towcester and Yateley.

Long income assets have become increasingly sought after, especially in those businesses which have proved resilient during the COVID 19 pandemic. Grocery shopping has been one of those star performers. Even as the level of online grocery shopping has increased, these stores should act as fulfilment centres for both Waitrose and John Lewis in the wider region.

We were very pleased to see an emotional Endo Kazutoshi collect his first (of many, we suspect) Michelin star for Endo at the Rotunda at Television Centre at White City. Millie Edwards in our leasing team acted for the landlord of Television Centre, Stanhope & Mitsui on the letting which underpins the premium reinvention of White City as a destination.

Endo at the Rotunda is a 16-seat restaurant located at the top of the landmark Television Centre, taking its name from the location and the internationally renown Kazutoshi. All 16 guests sit at a wooden counter fashioned from 200 year old hinoki wood, in front of the chef’s preparation table under swathes of ethereal cloud-like fabric. This is a dining experience like no other – offering direct interaction with the chefs preparing authentic Omakase style cuisine. The attention to detail and authenticity is so precise that reportedly water used for the Yamagata rice  is shipped in from Endo’s hometown, and a third-generation soya recipe feeds both the multi-course Omakase menus and edamame a la carte selection.

In his March 2019 review, The Times’ food critic Giles Coren called his experience: ‘Probably the most perfect meal I have eaten in a restaurant in 20 years’. We are delighted that the Michelin judges feel the same and offer our congratulations to Endo Kazutoshi and the rest of the team.