Wilkinson Williams

When Wilkinson Williams were appointed in 2006, the retail park was suffering from a number of voids. From the nine units on the scheme, four were vacant and during the course of the project, MFI and Allied Carpets also went into receivership.

Our asset management strategy consisted of a number of phases. The landlord secured planning consent to refurbish the units, including new front elevations, signage features and the car park was reconfigured. This work was carried out speculatively. The next stage was the introduction of Dunelm onto the park, who were persuaded to relocate from a store in the town centre. Dunelm’s ability to generate additional customers made the park more attractive to other occupiers. We were subsequently able to secure new lettings to Maplin and Argos prior to MFI’s failure. As a result of those new occupiers, HomeSense agreed terms for the MFI accommodation.

The final phase of the asset management was the letting of the last vacant unit on the park to Next Home at £20.00 per sq ft. During the project, KFC opened a pod unit on the car park, which has proved to be their most successful new store opening in Europe!