Overview

UK retail property is experiencing unprecedented challenges and significant change driven by e-commerce and exacerbated by pressures on retailers from business rates, inflation, consumer spending and employee costs. However, retail property remains the largest asset class in UK commercial property and retail property that satisfies consumers’ demands for experience or convenience are particularly in demand. 

E-commerce is also responsible for the increasing merger of the retail and industrial property asset classes including warehouses, last-mile deliveries and reverse logistics.

Our award winning retail real estate team provides specialist and comprehensive support on all aspects of UK retail property and, increasingly, in cutting edge energy and transport/logistics solutions.

Areas of focus

Our expertise in UK retail real estate includes the following:

  • Investment and development
  • Construction
  • Planning
  • Funding
  • Tenant advisory
  • Retail portfolio management
  • Logistics and distribution
  • Acquisitions and disposals
  • Environmental regulation and sustainability
  • Energy generation, storage and optimisation
  • Dilapidations

Our team operate across the UK including in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Experience

Providing real estate, commercial and employment advice for the John Lewis Partnership on all aspects of its day to day operations, including John Lewis's 48 shops, Waitrose's 350 shops and all their other property requirements including state of the art distribution centres.

Acting for the collaborative JV between Crosstree Real Estate Partners and AEG on its new 210,000 sq ft urban outlet centre at The O2 bringing 80 retail stores to the leisure destination for the first time including Ted Baker, Calvin Klein and Hackett.

Acting for Waterstones on all aspects of its 290 + UK wide store portfolio.

Extensive West End and luxury retail property experience including for international investors and over ten years’ experience in acting for The Crown Estate’s £2.2 billion St James's portfolio.

Acting for M&S plc on the M&S Energy Society, a community energy scheme designed to generate renewable energy from solar panels installed on M&S stores across the UK.

Advising North Somerset Council on the acquisition of the Sovereign Shopping Centre in partnership with Legal & General.

Acting on numerous acquisitions of high profile UK shopping centres and retail parks including Westgate Shopping Centre (Oxford), Silverlink Shopping Park (Newcastle), Aintree Shopping Park (Liverpool), Ocean Retail Park (Portsmouth), Victoria Retail Park (Nottingham), South Aylesford Retail Park, Morfa Shopping Park (Swansea).

Advising The Crown Estate on the procurement of its St James’s Market project, a £400 million redevelopment of three sites in London to deliver nearly 28,000 sq m of mixed use accommodation – the largest single project that The Crown Estate has ever undertaken.

Acting on the administration of the Yorkgate Shopping Centre, York.

Advising an international investor on the acquisition through the BVI holding company, of the long leasehold interest in The Rolex Store at One Hyde Park at a yield of 1.75%.

Acting on the refinance of two shopping centres in Kings Lynn and Loughborough as part of a facility secured on a wider portfolio of properties worth £94 million and including restructuring the ownership, setting up a new joint venture structure and the replacing loan-on-loan financing with direct asset finance.

Advising Houston-based energy manufacturing and logistics company Philips 66 Limited on its acquisition of NJB Services Limited, a UK company with interests in five filling sites in the North of England.

Meet the team
Matthew Sims

Matthew Sims Partner

  • Real Estate Services
  • Retail
  • Real Estate
Richard Clark partner

Richard Clark Partner

  • Offices
  • Retail Property
  • Industrial and Logistics
Richard Read

Richard Read Partner

  • Real Estate Investment
  • International Real Estate
  • Hotels, Leisure and Tourism
Marcus Harling

Marcus Harling Partner

  • Construction and Engineering 
  • Transport and Regeneration
  • Modern Methods of Construction
Nick Churchward

Nick Churchward Partner

  • Head of Resource and Waste Management
  • Projects
  • Energy and Utilities
Paul Browne

Paul Browne Partner

  • Head of Real Estate
  • Head of International Trade
  • Nuclear
Sally Jupp

Sally Jupp Partner

  • Real Estate Finance
  • Corporate Turnaround and Insolvency
  • Real Estate Investment and Development
Colin Ligman

Colin Ligman Partner

  • Real Estate
  • Banking and Finance
  • Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency
Jeremy Bell

Jeremy Bell Partner

  • Head of Private Investment Funds
  • Asset Management
  • Partnerships
Chris Preston

Chris Preston Partner

  • Real Estate Disputes
  • Real Estate Development
  • Telecommunications
Will Hall

Will Hall Director

  • Real Estate Services
  • Real Estate Investment 
  • Real Estate Finance
Robert Forman

Robert Forman Partner

  • Head of Scottish Real Estate 
  • Real Estate Advisory
  • Real Estate Investment

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