Retail Property News

Lloyds Pharmacy owner joins race to snap up The Body Shop

2nd October 2023

The owner of Lloyds Pharmacy has become the latest name to enter the race to acquire cosmetics retailer The Body Shop. Germany-based asset management firm Aurelius Group is reportedly eyeing a bid for the retailer, Sky News has reported. It joins Bensons for Beds owner Alteri Investors, former Hotter Shoes owner Epiris, and activist investors Elliott Advisors as names touted for a takeover. Brazilian company Natura, which has owned The Body Shop since 2017, placed the retailer on the market earlier this year. The auction, which is being handled by Morgan Stanley, is proceeding quickly with Natura looking to reach a provisional agreement on a sale by the end of October, City sources previously told Sky News. Prior to its sale to Natura, The Body Shop was owned by L’Oreal, but has since struggled to achieve profitable growth. It has grown rapidly in recent years through acquisitions, but has posted losses for six consecutive quarters. The business was previously valued at £406m.

Watch: Leisure sector is “on the crest of a wave”

2nd October 2023

The leisure industry is currently on “the crest of a wave”, said Neil Hockin, managing director of Lunson Mitchenall. Speaking at September’s Completely Retail Marketplace event, he said that at the moment leisure feels “quite resilient”, but the proof is yet to be seen that these companies can survive when rent-free periods end: “So I think there’s sometime to go in that sector. And there will be a consolidation because there’s been a massive explosion and one, invariably, follows the other.” He was joined by Alice Keown, leasing director for hospitality and leisure at British Land, to discuss the rise of experiential retail and the incorporation of leisure activities in shopping spaces with Completely Retail News executive editor Lisa Pilkington. “There are sectors that seem to be more resilient, so QSR (quick-service restaurants) always does well in a recession or a downturn”, said Keown. She added: “All of the usual QSR’s like Maccie D’s (McDonald’s) and Burger King will be here to stay, but I’m loving the new generation coming through. We heard that Popeyes think they’ll get a tenfold growth over the next ten years, and given the sales they’re doing in [British Land’s] assets I believe that’s possible.”...

John Lewis chair Dame Sharon White to step down

2nd October 2023

The chair of the John Lewis Partnership, Dame Sharon White, has told the group’s board that she will step down from her role. White will not seek a second term, making her the shortest-serving chair in the company’s history. Her current five-year term ends in February 2025. White has faced a number of challenges in her time as chair of the partnership including leading the business through the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. In May, she endured a vote of confidence from shareholders and has previously sparked discontent over suggested plans to sell part of the business, meaning that John Lewis would no longer be entirely employee-owned. The news comes shortly after the retail group announced that its recovery plan has been pushed back by two years to 2028, with the partnership citing inflationary pressures and greater than expected investment requirements. The partnership’s deputy chair and chair of the nominations committee, Rita Clifton, will oversee the appointment process for a successor. As required by the retail group’s constitution, the appointment will need to be approved by the board. Sharon White said: “The chairman of the John Lewis Partnership is a special and unique role in UK business. The chairman is responsible for the […]

PureGym secures £805m refinancing to support expansion

2nd October 2023

PureGym has completed a refinancing deal worth a total of £805m as the chain looks to continue its expansion. The gym chain’s holding company, Pinnacle Bidco, has finalised terms for the offering of €380m (£330m) and £475m of secured notes, due in 2028. This funding will be used to refinance existing loan notes which are due in 2025. In addition, PureGym has agreed an increased senior credit facility of £175.5m (previously £145m) from a syndicate of banks including Barclays, RBC, Deutsche Bank, ING, and JP Morgan, taking the chain’s investor commitments to almost £1bn. Humphrey Cobbold, CEO of PureGym Group, said: “We are delighted to have priced thisrefinancing, one of the largest of its kind in the sector’s history. We view this as a huge vote ofconfidence in PureGym, our recent trading, management team and strategy”. He added: “Our £300 million of available liquidity is further underpinned by the 5-year extension of debtmaturities. This gives us a stabilised financial platform to confidently progress our investment focusedstrategy of opening new gyms and ensuring we maintain the quality of our existing facilities. Webelieve this refinancing gives us a distinct competitive advantage compared to more resourceconstrained competitors. There is considerable demand for our […]

Prime Minister pledges over £1.1bn in levelling up funding

2nd October 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced plans to provide 55 “left-behind” towns with a total of £1.1bn in levelling up funding. The Government’s ‘Long-term Plan for Towns’ will provide the locations with £20m endowment-style funds over 10 years for investment into “local people’s priorities”. The funding is expected to be spent on local priorities, such as reviving high streets, tackling anti-social behaviour, improving transport, and growing the local economy. Under the new approach, town boards will be set up to bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP, with the aim of delivering the long-term plan and bringing it to local people for consultation. The plan also looks to use a number of regeneration powers to unlock more private sector investment through the auctioning of empty high street shops, reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants, and supporting more town centre housing. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities. “The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s […]

Calls for the ‘agent of change’ principle to be made legal obligation

2nd October 2023

Trade body UKHospitality has called for the ‘agent of change’ principle to be made a legal obligation, making it mandatory for developers to mitigate any noise issues from existing hospitality businesses. The principle works so that if a new venue or noise generating development is built near existing residential properties, the onus is on the new development to put in place noise mitigating measures, and vice versa. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is currently consulting on a number of proposals to support housing delivery. The proposals include allowing the change of use of hotels, boarding houses, or guest houses to residential buildings. UKHospitality has said that current requirements for developers building close to hospitality businesses “lack teeth”, resulting in tensions between residents and pre-existing venues. The group said that the proposals to ease change of use requirements must not place viable accommodation businesses under the threat of conversion, and that it supports proposals that hotel businesses converted into residential properties cannot be used for short-term letting purposes. UKHospitality added that before any residential conversions, there must be assessments made to determine that the losses of these businesses will not lead to significant negative impacts to the local...

Sook to pop-up at Liverpool ONE for regional debut

29th September 2023

Pop-up retail space operator is set to open its first site in the North West at Liverpool ONE’s Upper South John Street. The opening – set for the beginning of November – marks the third partnership between Sook and scheme owner Grosvenor, following two successful ventures in London. Taking a 1,250 sq ft space, Sook will operate at the Liverpool scheme for three months, offering leases ranging between three days and a month. Making use of digital display boards, screens, and fixtures, the space will be designed to offer flexibility to suit tenant requirements. Sook also supplies retailers with a number of data analytics and digital planning tools, helping tenants operate with maximum efficiency. Rob Deacon, senior asset manager at Grosvenor, said: “Supporting all brands from independents and local businesses to established names in retail has always been a huge part of our strategy at Liverpool ONE and Sook’s unique model allows local brands the opportunity to have a physical presence where they may not have been able to otherwise. Having Sook at Liverpool ONE for the three month period will showcase a refreshing selection of new brands, and we’re looking forward to seeing the success it will bring to […]

Wilko creditors could recover only 4% of debts

29th September 2023

Some creditors of collapsed high street retailer Wilko could recover as little as 4p to the pound of the money they are owed. The retailer’s administrators PwC informed unsecured creditors on Thursday evening that they were only likely to see recoveries of between 4% and 8%, Sky News has reported. According to documents from PwC, the Pension Protection Fund is expected to be paid in full the £20m it is owed as an secured creditor, however it is also owed millions of pounds as an unsecured creditor. Barclays and Homebase owner Hilco are also expected to be paid in full the £2.4m and £39.9m they are respectively owed. The Wilkinson family, which had run the business since the 1930s, has faced calls to hand back money it had received from the company in recent years through dividend payments. According PwC proposals seen by Sky News, the most recent payout to shareholders, amounting to £750,000, was made in February 2022. Between January 2019 and February 2022, the Wilkinson family had received £9m in dividend payouts. The retailer fell into administration in August after a difficult post-Pandemic period. The Range agreed to take control of Wilko’s brand and intellectual property, but all stores are set […]

Extend empty rates relief to a year, says BPF

29th September 2023

The British Property Federation (BPF) has called on the Government to extend empty rates relief from three months to 12. Currently, owners of vacant shops are given a three-month exemption from business rates to allow time for upgrades and re-letting. However, the BPF argues that the current rates relief is “not sufficient” for property owners to re-let their space. The federation has also called for a reintroduction of a 50% rate cut for long-term empty stores. This comes following an analysis into shop vacancy from Local Data Company (LDC), which looked at over 1,000 retail locations including high streets, shopping centres, and retail parks comprising over 124,000 individual shops. The analysis found that just 9% of vacant shops were reoccupied within six months, whilst almost a third (31%) of vacant units took over two years to become reoccupied. LDC’s data also showed a regional disparity across the UK, with only 4% of vacant stores in Yorkshire re-let within six months, along with 5% in the East Midlands and North East, compared to 13% in the South West and Greater London. The analysis also found that re-letting empty stores is a challenge across all location types, with 9.9% of high street […]

John Lewis considers £150m sale of 12 Waitrose stores

29th September 2023

The John Lewis Partnership is in talks regarding the sale and leaseback of 12 Waitrose stores in a deal worth £150m. The stores – which are predominantly based in the South East of England with 20-year inflation-linked leases – are expected to hit the market next week, Bloomberg has reported. CBRE is understood to be marketing the stores, although sources told Bloomberg that there is no certainty a sale will take place. John Lewis announced earlier this month that its recovery plan has been pushed back by two years to 2028, with the retailer citing inflationary pressures and greater than expected investment requirements. The retailer said that high rates of inflation in 2022, which led to an increase in costs of £179m, had led it to sharpen its focus on its “long-standing productivity challenge”. It has been a tumultuous period for the retail group, with chair Dame Sharon White enduring a vote of confidence from shareholders in May. She has previously sparked discontent over suggested plans to sell part of the business, meaning that John Lewis would no longer be entirely employee-owned. The group has also come under fire from campaigners over its plans to build a multi-storey residential scheme in Ealing,...

Watch: High streets must kick “addiction to transactional retail”

29th September 2023

High streets must kick their "addiction to transactional retail", said Ibrahim Ibrahim, managing director of Portland Design, speaking with Lisa Pilkington, executive editor of Completely Retail News, at Completely Retail Marketplace on Tuesday (26th of September).

Cardiff Market restoration secures £2.1m lottery funding

29th September 2023

Cardiff Council has secured £2.1m of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to aid its Cardiff Market restoration project. If the project receives full funding – which is expected to require a total investment of around £6.5m – the development would see the reveal of original design features, the restoration of traditional entrances and original stalls, the glass roof repaired, and improvements to the Victorian drainage system. Repairs would also be made to the H.Samuel market clock, whilst a ‘false floor’ installed at the Trinity Street entrance in the 1960s would be removed. The project would also see the introduction of a new activity and education room, as well as a new 70-seat eating area. The plans also detail the installation of new energy-efficient LED lighting and roof-mounted solar panels. Cardiff City Council leader Huw Thomas said: “Coming hot on the heels of cabinet agreeing the plans last week, this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund marks a significant step towards achieving our aim of protecting, preserving and future-proofing Cardiff Market. “The market has been an important city centre space for small independent traders for almost 130 years, and now welcomes more than two million people through its...