Posts from January 2023

Around 1,750 shop floor jobs could be at risk at Tesco, as it makes changes to its in-store management system. The supermarket retailer said it was extending a new management structure, which had previously been trialled in 350 of its smaller superstores, to all of its shops. It added that the changes would introduce around 1,800 new ‘shift leader’ roles in these stores, although this would be offset by a reduction in the amount of in-store managers. Tesco said it would support colleagues affected by these changes, and give them the option of moving into shift leader vacancies with financial support or to take redundancy pay. The supermarket also said it would be removing its meat, fish, and hot deli counters from February 26, with affected colleagues being offered alternative roles in the store. Tesco will also be closing eight in-store pharmacies, moving overnight roles to the day in some stores, removing some roles from head office, and closing the Tesco maintenance national operating centre in Milton Keynes. Tesco estimates these changes will amount to the loss of around 350 jobs across the business. Jason Tarry, Tesco UK and Ireland CEO, said: “These are difficult decisions to make, but they are...

News

Stores likely to close at collapsed Paperchase despite Tesco purchase

Paperchase’s stores are likely to close after Tesco purchased the retailer’s brand and intellectual property, hours after the it fell into administration. The retailer’s high street stores were not purchased and as a result all members of staff at Paperchase’s 100 stores are likely to lose their jobs. Paperchase called in administrators after its chances of a rescue deal looked increasingly unlikely. Earlier this month it was reported that the stationery and greeting card retailer had contacted Begbies Traynor as potential administrators as it began to look for new buyers. This came after it was revealed that Paperchase had been put up for sale only four months after its last change of ownership, when retail investor Steve Curtis snapped up the chain. The retailer’s shareholders were reportedly in discussions with multiple potential buyers, however the sale of the business was likely to involve a pre-pack deal, in which the company’s assets are sold off as soon as it falls into administration, Sky News said. This comes after PriceWaterhouseCooper was called in to help auction the retailer, which was one of many businesses that suffered heavily during the Pandemic. Paperchase previously underwent a pre-pack administration in January 2021.

News

Matchesfashion looks to change fortunes with £60m injection

Private equity firm Apax, the owner of Matchesfashion, is set to inject £60m in to the retailer in a bid to change its fortunes. Since acquiring the business in 2017, Apax has encountered a number of challenges and a difficult leadership situation, which has seen four CEOs in five years at the retailer. The £60m investment will be divided into £40m of new equity and £20m debt and represents the largest commitment Apax has made since acquiring the retailer, in a deal rumoured to be worth around $1bn (c. £811m). The luxury fashion retailer sells ranges from brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Valentino. Matchesfashion said it has had productive conversations and agreed waivers and extensions with lenders. A spokesperson for the retailer said: “Our trading performance has been very strong in recent months and we are well-positioned as a business, having significantly strengthened our top team. Now, with additional financial support from Apax, we are well placed to continue to drive our turnaround plan and deliver long-term commercial success.”

News

BOXPARK to launch first site outside of London

Community events space BOXPARK is set to open its first site outside of the Capital as its plans are approved for Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle at Cains Brewery Village. The 21,000 sq ft venue could bring 150 units and aims to drive one million people to the venue annually, after Liverpool City Council unanimously agreed planning permission for the £3.5m project today. BOXPARK provides a food, culture and social hub and has hosted events such as live music and fan parks for live sporting events. Founded in 2011, BOXPARK opened its first pop-up mall in Shoreditch before opening in Croydon and Wembley. The historic Canning Hall will see a transformation into a food hall and events space with a large internal space with units spanning the ground floor, an internal mezzanine, and an external terrace. Councillor Sarah Doyle, cabinet member for development and economy at Liverpool City Council, said: “The arrival of BOXPARK Liverpool will provide a welcome boost to the leisure offer in the Baltic district. The development is a significant investment creating a considerable number of jobs and now they have planning permission, I look forward to their opening.” BOXPARK must still be granted a premises licence for the new site....

Deals News

Home Bargains takes over discount retailer

Home Bargains has acquired ownership of fellow discount retailer Quality Save for an undisclosed fee. Documents filed at Companies House on January 27 revealed that T.J. Morris, who trade as Home Bargains, now have majority control of Quality Save. Founded in 1974 by Bob Rudkin, Quality Save has been a family owned business up until this point. Home Bargain’s takeover saw the dismissal of Richard, Diane, and Paul Rudkin as directors. T.J. Morris operations director Paul Rowland will take over as director of Quality Save. Founded over 40 years ago by Tom Morris, Home Bargains currently trades through over 500 stores nationwide and has recently spoken of doubling its store count to 1000. Quality Save’s 21 stores are found in the north west and Yorkshire, and the retailer says it employs around 600 people. It’s currently unclear if these stores will continue to trade under the Quality Save name.

News

Northampton shopping centre acquired by Evolve Estates

Northampton’s Grosvenor Shopping Centre has been acquired by Evolve Estates from Legal & General for an undisclosed fee. The two-storey, 319,048 sq ft shopping centre was refurbished in 2015 and is anchored by Primark, Boots, and Next. Other retailers at the scheme include Office, Superdry, Lush, Pandora, Smiggle, Deichmann Shoes, and River Island. It is also home to an 809-space car park which is owned and operated by the local council. Joe O’Keefe, one of Evolve Estate’s founding partners, said: “We are pleased to have completed this acquisition in an incredibly challenging market, cementing our commitment to continued investment in the retail sector.” “It’s also rare to find a scheme like this, with so many positive projects going on in and around it. There are more than £25 million of government-backed development projects immediately surrounding the centre on three separate sites, with Market Square, Greyfriars and the Abington Quarter, plus the Clock House key worker residential scheme. These will provide significant opportunities for us and the town to grow and fulfil its potential”, he added. Evolve Estates said it has a UK-wide portfolio of more than two million square metres with a value of around £340m.

Deals News

JD Sports could be fined £17.5m after data breach

JD Sports could face fines of up to £17.5m or even more after 10 million customers had their data leaked following a cyber-attack. The retailer said the incident had affected customers who had placed orders between November 2018 and October 2020 and targeted purchases of products from its JD, Size?, Millets, Blacks, Scotts and Millets Sport labels. JD Sports has since notified the Information Commissioners Office. “We want to apologise to those customers who may have been affected by this incident,” said JD Sports chief financial officer Neil Greenhalgh. “We are advising them to be vigilant about potential scam emails, calls and texts and providing details on how to report these”, he added. Jonathon Compton, a partner at law firm DMH Stallard, said that JD Sports can expect fines under Part 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018: “The higher maximum amount is £17.5 million or 4% of the total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is higher”, he said. Jamie Cameron, security consultant at Adarma, said: “JD sports customers should change their passwords for their JD Sports account and any site that they use the same email password combination on to prevent credential stuffing attacks. They should also...

News

Agents appointed for Europe’s first ‘smart town’

Real estate investment, development, and management firm Long Harbour have appointed Colliers and Savills as joint commercial agents for its £2.3bn Fawley Waterside development. Led by a development company of the same name and located near the New Forest National Park and the port of Southampton, Fawley Waterside is set to be Europe’s first purpose built ‘smart town’, built from the ‘internet-up’ with 5g connectivity and a city-wide ‘Internet of Things’. The new development is part of the Solent Freeport, offering business rates and tax reliefs to companies as well as customs advantages and planning, trade, and investment support. Fawley Waterside’s commercial element will offer a 1.5m sq ft life science and technology focussed campus. Savills said the initiative will position the Solent at the centre of low carbon fuel production in the UK, in a bid to contribute to the country’s Net Zero ambitions by 2050. It added that the project could capture approximately three million tonnes of CO2 every year. Aldred Drummond, chief executive of Fawley Waterside, said: “Fawley Waterside offers a unique opportunity to locate within the Solent Freeport, enabling companies to take full advantage of the highly favourable tax status, world-class digital connectivity and access to...

News

Merger in the pipeline as Shaftesbury reports strong occupier trading

Real estate investment trust (REIT) Shaftesbury has said it expects a merger with fellow REIT Capital & Counties (Capco) to finalise in the current quarter. On December 23 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority announced the launch of its phase one review into the merger, with a deadline for a decision set for February 22. This comes as the real estate investment trust revealed a strong period of occupier turnover in the run up to Christmas. In its trading period for October 1 to December 31, Shaftesbury’s occupier turnover rose by 42% against 2021 levels, and was 6% higher than pre-Pandemic rates in 2019. Shaftesbury also saw leasing transactions with the rental value of £8m completed in the quarter. The REIT said that by the end of 2022 its wholly-owned portfolio was worth £3.1bn. It added that a sustained recovery in footfall and trading seen in 2022 continued into the Christmas and New Year period. Domestic visits to its villages were flat against December 2021, having been affected by rail strikes, but footfall was buoyed by continued growth in international tourist numbers. Shaftesbury said across its portfolio, its occupiers had outperformed the wider West End. Brian Bickell, Shaftesbury chief executive,...

News

Roxy Lanes set to launch in Cardiff

Savills and joint agent Calan Retail, have announced on behalf of Mahavir Properties that leisure concept Roxy Lanes is set to launch in Cardiff this spring. The 20,000 sq ft unit at 11-25 Queen Street will be the first Roxy Lanes venue in Wales. Founded in 2013 by Matthew Jones and Ben Jones, parent company Roxy Leisure currently operates 13 Roxy Lanes and Roxy Ball Room sites cross the UK in Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Bristol. Roxy Lanes offers a number of activities including bowling, pool, curling, batting cages amongst other, along with an American-style food and drinks menu. Matthew Brown, Director in the National Retail team at Savills Bristol, says: “The [Roxy Lanes] concept has proven extremely popular across the UK and they will be a great addition to Cardiff’s exciting leisure offer.” Harlow Property Consultants acted for Roxy Leisure.

Deals

Legal & General boss announces retirement

The chief executive of financial services provider Legal & General has announced his intention to retire after spending a decade at the company. Sir Nigel Wilson joined Legal & General in 2009 as chief financial officer before being appointed chief executive in 2012. He was knighted for services to the financial services industry and regional development in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List, and has won numerous awards including the ‘most admired leader’ award at Britain’s Most Admired Companies Awards 2017. The board is yet to appoint a successor, adding that it expects the process will take around a year. Sir Nigel will remain in his role until then. Legal & General chair, Sir John Kingman, said: “Nigel has successfully navigated significant geopolitical changes as well as challenges in the regulatory and market environments of each of our core businesses and has steered the Group into a position of strength from which it can continue developing on behalf of its shareholders, customers and people. “Under his stewardship, the Group has consistently delivered profitable, sustainable and inclusive growth. Nigel has been a tireless champion for investment-led growth and responsible investment.” Sir Nigel Wilson said: “Legal & General has been a big part...

News

Savills appoints director to shopping centre team

Savills has announced the appointment of Saagar Sachdev as a director within its property management team. Sachdev will manage portfolios across the UK within the real estate advisor’s shopping centre team. Savills said his role will involve further developing client relationships and building on the work done to onboard and manage various trophy retail assets across the UK. A chartered surveyor, Sachdev has previously worked for 12 years at Workman across a variety of shopping centre schemes and retail parks, working on behalf of a number of clients ranging from pension funds and real estate investment trusts to smaller private investors. Richard Hulme, head of retail property management at Savills, said: “We are excited to welcome Saagar to the team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience within retail property management to meet the future needs of clients.” Saagar Sachdev, says: “I am delighted to be joining Savills at an exciting time of expansion and look forward to working with the team to build upon the exceptional work done so far. My experience has taught me that one size does not fit all. Similarly, with each retail asset, the approach to property management is always tailored to suit.”

News

PrettyLittleThing to launch first UK showroom

Kenningham Retail has announced that online fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing (PLT) has agreed to open a showroom at 29-31 Great Portland Street. Taking a 4,375 sq ft unit, the new UK showroom will follow similar concepts seen in Paris, Miami, and Los Angeles. The space will serve as a combination of a private showroom and creative hub and will include a content room, photo studio, working offices and meeting rooms. The new site will welcome PLT’s list of influencers, media, artists, celebrities, and stylists. Some big names that have worked with the brand include Kourtney Kardashian, Ashley Graham, Hailey Bieber, Teyana Taylor, Olivia Culpo, Saweetie, Ashanti, Little Mix, and Molly Mae. Nicki Capstick, PLT marketing director, said: “Since our launch in 2012, we have built a strong portfolio of showrooms and are excited to expand our offering to the pool of talent we work with throughout the UK. “Our UK based team have grown rapidly over the past 11 years and this new space will allow us to bring the experience that our Influencers, Talent and press have in our international showrooms”.

Deals

Gilly Hicks comes to Liverpool ONE through Hollister relocation

Grosvenor has announced the relocation of fashion retailer Hollister at Liverpool ONE, alongside its sub-brand, Gilly Hicks. The new combined space on South John Street will bring the two Abercrombie & Fitch-owned brands together for the first time in the city, and will be one of the first of its kind in Europe. This follows a busy 2022 for the Liverpool scheme, with 36 brands having signed, renewed, or opened in the year for a total of 350,000 sq ft of space. This includes Gravity, M&S, Tessuti, Charlotte Tilbury, Cricket, Under Armour, Bershka, Bread Street Kitchen, and COSMO. Grosvenor said that new and existing occupiers had invested £18m in their stores and restaurants at the destination in 2022, while Liverpool ONE welcomed over 22m visitors. The signing also follows the recent news that German fashion brand BOSS will be relocating and upsizing its store at the scheme to Paradise Street. Rob Deacon, senior asset manager at Grosvenor, said: “This deal is a testament to the momentum we are continuing to build at the destination and is particularly exciting given the new space will be one of the first model stores in Europe.” Chris Jukes, director of Liverpool ONE, added: “Liverpool...

Deals News

Albert’s Schloss lines up Shaftesbury Avenue opening

Bavarian beer hall concept Albert’s Schloss is lining up an opening at the former Rainforest Café site at Jungle Cave. Parent group Mission Mars, who also operate Rudy’s Napoletana Pizza, is set to launch the new 700-capacity beer hall on Shaftesbury Avenue near Piccadilly Circus. Mission Mars reported earlier this month that its existing three Albert Schloss sites in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham saw its revenue grow to £4.3m in the five-week to January 1, an increase of 104% over the previous year. Mission Mars is looking to invest £25-30m in the next three years and plans to open six to eight Rudy’s sites per year and one Albert’s Schloss, Propel reported. Target locations for the beer house concept include London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Bristol and Las Vegas.

Deals

Poundland looks to open 50 new stores

Discount retailer Poundland has said it plans to open 50 new stores in the next nine months, sayong the project would create 750 jobs. The news shows a continuation of the retailer’s accelerated roll-out programme, which saw Poundland open eight stores in one day in December. The store expansions would allow the retailer to trade more frozen food in its stores, allowing Poundland to compete with the likes of Iceland and other supermarkets. The retailer said the openings and relocations would see Poundland to a wide range of UK high streets, shopping centres and retail parks. The plans outline ambitions to open Poundland’s largest store yet in London. Poundland also revealed plans to relocate from its smaller stores when leases expire, as it looks to continue upsizing. There are eight openings already confirmed for January to March, with at least another six in leasing negotiations. Poundland managing director Barry Williams said “We know how customers appreciate the effort we’ve made in the last few years to transform our offer, offering them more of what they want to buy, week-in, week-out. “That transformation means we have to step up our search for the best locations to bring the best of Poundland...

News

Maybourne announce first London hotel launch in 50 years

Maybourne Hotel Group, the owners of Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley, have announced the opening of its first hotel in the Capital in 50 years. Set to open in the winter, The Emory will be the group’s sixth hotel, including The Maybourne Beverley Hills and The Maybourne Riviera. Opening on Knightsbridge, the RSHP-designed hotel will offer 60 suites over 9 storeys, with each floor showcasing unique aesthetics of multiple different interior designers. The Emory will also play host to world-famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ABC concept, imported from Manhattan. A newly created wellness space, complete with a 22 metre pool, will be constructed beneath ground for guests at The Emory. Hotelier Knut Wylde will be appointed as general manager in addition to his current role as general manager of The Berkeley. CEO of Maybourne Hotel Group, Gianluca Muzzi, said: “This is our first new London property in 50 years, and we believe it will be a truly ground breaking new addition to our distinguished hotel family. We plan to bring the inspiration and creative energy that have made our other hotels so notable, whilst also making The Emory a world class hub of art and culture. This opening further cements...

News

Superdry sees losses as wholesale sales decline

Clothing retailer Superdry has revealed an adjusted loss before tax of £13.6m for the first half of its 2023 financial year, as wholesale sales fell. In the 26 weeks to October 29 2022, wholesale sales at the retailer declined by 5.2%, which Superdry said was due to a lagged recovery after COVID and shipment timing. Despite this, the retailer said brand recovery was back on track, with a 14.3% increase in store revenue to £117.7m as more customers returned to high street shopping. Superdry added that demand strengthened over the Christmas period, with stores returning back to 2019 levels of sales and retail revenue up 24.9% in the 9 weeks to December 31, while post-Christmas sales disposed of stock at strong rates. Its Black Friday event also pulled significant numbers of customers back into stores and increased traffic on its website, Superdry said. Julian Dunkerton, founder and chief executive officer of Superdry, said: “Despite the underlying brand recovery, our profits in the first half fell short of expectations mainly due to the underperformance of Wholesale. We reorganised our team and our approach to support our Wholesale partners and expect to see their confidence return”. “Whilst we did trade well through...

News

Vacancy rates continue to improve but remain above pre-Pandemic levels

The end of 2022 saw a fifth consecutive quarter in which retail vacancy rates fell, however occupancy has not yet returned to levels seen before COVID-19. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the overall vacancy rate in Great Britain improved to 13.8%, 0.1 percentage points better than in the third quarter and 0.6 percentage points lower than the same period in 2021. The data from the British Retail Consortium and Local Data Company revealed that all sectors of the retail industry continued to improve. Shopping centre vacancies fell to 18.2%, down from 18.8% in the third quarter, while high street vacancies improved by 0.1% to 13.8%. Retail parks also saw an increase in occupancy, with vacancies falling 0.7% in the fourth quarter to 9.0%. Greater London, the South East, and East of England had the lowest vacancy rates, while the North East, Wales, and The Midlands saw the highest. Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “While the number of empty stores reduced in the final quarter of 2022, vacancy rates have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Retail occupancy was boosted by the return of international tourists visiting UK towns and cities and more frequent visits...

Insights News

Bestway takes stake in Sainsbury’s