Bruce Gillingham Pollard are delighted to have advised an overseas client on the recent acquisition of HSBC in Lincoln.

It completes the acquisition of three HSBC banks from Aviva, alongside Kingston Upon Thames & Brighton, acquired separately over the past two years for overseas clients.

The property is let to HSBC Bank Plc for a further seven years with annual RPI reviews.

Great to work with Lottie Hayward & Andy Pointon once again at Allsop LLP who acted for the vendors.

Please contact Jack Barratt in our Investment Team for details on our overseas requirements.

Lucy McGowan-Scanlon join’s Bruce Gillingham Pollard as Head of Pop-Ups after 2 years at Debenhams. Lucy worked on both long term leases and lead on all of their pop-up activity across 40 stores.  Projects included supporting on the introduction of Café de Pierre (Caffe Concerto) and working with Sweet Potato Spirit Company as they expanded from 5 to 25 pop-ups.

Lucy says “Pop-ups have never had more relevance on the high street than in the current climate as a means to drum up consumer interest, drive footfall and increase dwell time. It is an opportunity for up and coming brands to showcase themselves and given the rent terms, trial different markets and for Landlords to activate their spaces in a way that could rejuvenate the surrounding area. Consumers are now overly familiar with carbon copy high streets and this is the perfect way to create a feeling of change and newness. I am really excited to support our Landlords in a change of approach and look forward to working with the tenants to help bring awareness to and grow their brands”.

Lucy will work across our portfolio of estates and instructions, focusing primarily in London and the Home Counties, with a remit to expand nationally in 2021.

Managing Director Tracey Pollard says,

“Lucy’s retail background brings another dynamic to our business and her insight will be vital to the future success of this initiative. We have long been advocates of pop-ups, as they allow a landlord to test a sector or a potential brand, without full scale commitment from either party. This can create a point of difference and a renewed energy to a shopping destination.

In the current trading environment, pop-ups have never been so important to our clients but the economics of delivering pop up operators which also fit within a tenant mix strategy can be a challenge for agents. Therefore, we firmly believe a dedicated resource, sourcing targeted tenants for pop-up opportunities will prove a vital resource for our clients to navigate the new era of retail.“

BGP are seeking an intern to join us for 6 weeks from 1st September 2020 to work within our leasing team.

We are interested to hear from candidates from any background and property experience is not necessary.

Key attributes required:

* Independent thought
* Strong communication skills
* Tenacity
* Passion for retail, fashion, food & leisure
* Determination

If you are or know of anyone interested please forward your CV and covering letter to layla@brucegillinghampollard by Monday 17th August.

Advised by our investment team, Otium Real Estate has purchased Robin Leisure Park in Wigan from a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors. The purchase was made at a price of £12.48m reflecting a yield of 8.3% off a net rental income of £1.107m per annum.

The property extends to 96,163 sq ft and accommodates Wigan’s only multiplex cinema and a range of tenants including Empire cinema, JD Gym, Buzz bingo, Pizza Hut and Frankie and Benny’s. Adjacent to the DW stadium, the park sits on an 18.4-acre freehold site with nearly a 1,000 surface car park spaces.

Ashley Blake of Otium said,

“We are delighted to add this leisure park to the Fund’s portfolio.  Its tenant line-up and location are established, showing us that the scheme still has significant potential for growth – we will be working closely with the tenants to enhance the park further.  From this strong start to the year we are keen to acquire further leisure assets during 2020.”

Andrew McGregor, Head of Investment, who advised Otium said:

“It is always a pleasure to act for Otium and this is an ideal asset for their requirements, with a strong line up as well as scope for asset management.”

The vendor, CBRE Global Investors was advised by Montagu Evans. For more information on Otium’s requirements or on this transaction, please speak to Andrew Mcgregor.

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.

We often travel across the world looking for retail inspiration and ways to help our clients drive footfall. However, sometimes we find it right on our doorstep. Just 3 miles from my home, in the tiny Oxfordshire village of Watlington is The Orange Bakery. Opened 2 months ago by a father and 15 year old daughter team it is a true example of a “footfall driver” despite being a “pop up” of just a couple of hundred square feet.  Their bakery has grown from an activity to keep young baker Kitty Tait occupied whilst she was off school ill, to a business which supplies local restaurants and pubs, to opening up her own pop up.

Their goal is simple, for people to enjoy authentic & genuine bread, which has just four ingredients: flour, salt, water and yeast. I have no idea what they do to these 4 ingredients to make them taste so very good but it’s definitely made with love, passion and pride, because it is simply the best bread I’ve ever had.

The range is small but consistent in quality and includes sourdough, focaccia (made with authentic Italian olive oil, rosemary from their garden and Cornish sea salt), cheese straws and a range of delicious pastries.  At the moment the range is small and only available Wednesday to Saturday 10.30 – 1 pm and when they run out they shut.  Despite, or maybe because of the uncertainty of supply, at 10.30am it is not uncommon to see a queue of people outside the shop.  I often find that after queuing to get in and anticipating what goodies are left, I then go totally mad and buy twice as much as I intended to, just because I was lucky enough to get into the shop! However, it’s never wasted and we always seem to eat it.  In fact, very often it doesn’t even get home, as my daughter eats the warm crusts as we walk back to the car.

Whilst I’ve not spoken to the other shopkeepers of Watlington, the new regular footfall attracted to the village by the quality of the bakery must be benefitting the rest of the retailers.  Local foodies are already drawn to the excellent Calnan Brothers Butchers and the charming Granary Deli and Café, so I do not doubt there has been some knock on benefit.

I guess it just goes to show that a footfall driver need not be a big national chain, or have an expensive shop fit.  Sometimes it can be a small local bakery run by a 15 year old girl.

I am a sucker for a farm shop and it would appear I am not the only one.  No longer seen as quaint and over-priced, the number of Farm Shops in the UK tripled between 2004 and 2017 to 3,500.  According to the Guild of Butchers, Farm Shops are the fastest growing part of the meat selling industry. Whilst consumers are trying to reducing their meat intake for health and environmental reasons, they seem to be genuinely interested in understanding the provenance and the quality of their meat. This is where the Farm Shop excels, as their meat and vegetables are often produced on either their own or neighbouring farms, offering the consumer trust and reassurance.

One of my favourite farm shops is Wellington Farm Shop which is a regular stop on our family’s journeys down to the New Forest.  Located just off the A33 the shop is part of the Duke of Wellingtons Estate.

Not only does it have a fantastic selection of fresh breads and three butchers on site offering tips, it has a vast range of seasonal fruit and vegetables, and a lovely selection if gifts and homewares.  All this set alongside a café, serving fresh home cooked food means we can stock up on our key fresh ingredients without having to go near a supermarket, and also get great snacks in the form of fresh sausage rolls and scotch eggs, to keep us going as we continue our journey.

There is a real focus on food miles and free range products at Wellington, two elements which we focus on when purchasing our food shopping.  Much of the beef comes from their own herd of Hereford beef, which they farm on the Estate’s water meadows and the lamb comes from their Welsh Black Mountain flock.  This philosophy follows through with the fruit and vegetable selection, as they typically stock what is in season and what is available in the UK.

Alongside the vegetables and meat selection, there is an array of products that complement a purchase, therefore appealing to the busier cook by offering a homemade meal solution which can be quick and easy to prepare.

I hope the UK’s Farm shops are one of the winners posts Brexit.  With their philosophy of sourcing local British produce and allowing small farmers a direct route to market, a good farm shop can really create a sense of community.  They can become a destination in their our right by offering an experiential shopping experience or a great café, as demonstrated by Wellington Farm Shop.  But more importantly they can offer the consumer the option to shop in an environment which understands the importance of  food miles, the environmental impact of packaging and is working with its suppliers to offer a long term sustainable future.