The Ashley Centre magazine – Lunson Mitchell x Epsom by lunson-mitchenall

@ The Ashley Centre

Lunson Mitchenall

Bo Derek

“Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.”

The Epsom team

LM are based in Covent Garden at the heart of London’s Retail and Dining epicentre. The size of the LM team allows us to rescource fully, ensuring that all enquiries are answered and viewings on site can be accompanied.

We play to our strengths and are a close-knit team, we work well together and with joint agents. We have hand picked a team ideally suited to this instruction:

WILL HOOPER

Will aka @Hoopsretail, has worked on a number of leading shopping and leisure destinations including Lakeside, Victoria Leeds, Wandsworth – Southside and Canary Wharf.

As a Battersea resident, he has a keen eye for the London suburbs. He understands how to curate a joyful shopping experience and vibrant mix, at the same time as driving rental values.

He is a proven dealer having recently negotiated transactions with the likes of Boggi Milano, Bloobloom, Mango, Townhouse and Jimmy Fairly.

Will has developed long lasting relationships over the years with leading retail brands and agents and is able to entice a broad spectrum of occupiers to any given asset.

Favourite deal in the last 12 months

Boggi Milano, Canary Wharf

Brand to watch Sosander

Eats At Nessa, Soho

Wowed by Plaza de España, Seville

GEORGE SAUNDERS

George works on a variety of key assets across Greater London and the SE of England, including Canterbury - Whitefriars, Crawley - County Mall, Stratford Centre, Staines - Two Rivers, and Walton on Thames – The Heart.

George has developed excellent relationships with clients across a broad spectrum of assets, from large convenience centres to neighbourhood schemes. He has experience of working on assets in SW London and Surrey, liaising with local brands and cross-selling their concepts from asset to asset.

He has a great understanding of aspirational high street brands, and is always up-to-date with the latest emerging trends. His recent deals include Moss Bros, Lovisa, Kokoro and Typo.

Favourite deal in the last 12 months Moss Bros, Canterbury Brand to watch Devereux

Eats At Fallow, Haymarket

Wowed by Dubai Marina Mall

JACOB CORREN

Jacob works on a range of mixed-use instructions across the UK including the likes of Watford-Atrio, Uxbridge – The Chimes and Southbank Place.

Having joined LM in mid 2022, he previously specialised in the commercial leasing of new-build mixed-use developments, with a strong focus on urban regeneration and commercial placemaking.

He has a hunger for identifying new and exciting F&B/leisure concepts that not only deliver a quality offering, but that also add a point of difference to the surrounding commercial landscape. Notable recent deals include the likes of Haute Dolci, Gails, and his favourite CrossFit operator, Gymnasium.

Favourite deal in the last 12 months Haute Dolci

Brand to watch Akoko, Soho

Eats At L’entrecote, Marylebone

Wowed by Galleria Vittorio

Emanuele II – Milan, Italy

LM Wider Team

LM are the UK’s foremost independent retail and leisure agency. We provide market leading advice on mixed use, retail and leisure destinations.

The LM team provides leasing, development, lease advisory, investment and strategic asset advice across the sector. We benefit from a mix of experienced market leaders, ambitious Directors, younger associates and surveyors. We pride ourselves on growing and nurturing our staff and giving our clients a consistent approach to resourcing.

Our agency team consists of 20 people. Half of all agency directors joined as graduates and have progressed through the company over the years.

We have had a 100% staff retention over the last 2 years and prior to that, one colleague moved client side. We are passionate about the assets we work on, delivering the best deals in terms of both financial performance and tenant mix for our clients.

LM has a collaborative and supportive culture and encourages diversity at every level throughout the company.

We are on a journey to be carbon neutral, from a paper free office to E.Vehicles and employee benefits – we are proud of how far we have come but there is more to do!

We understand that clients have their own social and environmental agendas and policies, and we will work closely with you to make the asset more sustainable and relevant.

outing Charity walk – CRY

Elifar 2023 LM team

LM LEASING

20 leasing agents in our team

LM HAVE THE LARGEST LEASING TEAM IN THE UK

50 Leasing Instructions

Innovation x Hard Work

The world of retail is changing at an unprecedented rate. Standing still or relying on how we historically approached the market are not options. LM have always been at the forefront of shopping centre leasing and development. No one works harder to help their clients achieve their goals & objectives.

750 Leasing transactions per year

Teamwork x Collaboration

We are fun to work with. In the age of a more corporate approach it is often forgotten that both we and our clients perform best when we work as a team.

100 pop up and temp lets

We Deliver

Over the last 12 months, LM have transacted with, amongst others, the following occupiers.

We have an unrivalled knowledge of active occupiers in London, Greater London and the South East of England, and would be able to leverage off the following instructions; Bracknell – The Lexicon, Brent Cross, Bromley – The Glades, Canterbury –Whitefriars, Crawley – County Mall, Guildford – The Friary, Stratford Centre, Uxbridge - The Chimes, Staines Upon Thames – Two Rivers, Walton-on-Thames – The Heart Watford - Atria – The Heart & Windsor – Windsor Yards.

Windsor

In our first 12 months as newly appointed joint agents on Windsor Yards we hit the ground running, leasing in excess of 27,500 sq ft over 13 transactions, securing a total annual rent roll of over £900,000. The tenant mix has been elevated with the introduction of The White Company, Mango, Oliver Bonas, and Ole & Steen to name a few.

Lakeside

At Lakeside we have developed a clear strategy on focussing likeminded higher end brands towards a section on the upper mall, which is now ‘super prime’. Clustering has improved turnover performance culminating in recent upsizes for Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein & Goldsmiths. When opportunities have arisen at lease events, we have been able to elevate the mix by replacing Kuoni, TM Lewin, Cath Kidston with the likes of Rituals, Lacoste & TAG. The super prime section is now fully let with competitive tension for new opportunities and with strong rental growth postCOVID. There has also been an added spillover effect on the mall either side of this section, helping to attract the likes of Nike, Pull & Bear and Stradivarius.

Bracknell

The Lexicon was part of a wider regeneration project in Bracknell which opened in September 2017. Now over 5 years old and with the perception of Bracknell being a tired post-war town now a thing of the past, we have seen a strong level of demand from a higher calibre of retailers. The introduction of the likes of Gail’s, Phase Eight, Hobbs, Sostrene Grene, Crew and Kokoro has been testament to the trading performance of The Lexicon and evolving perception from sought after brands. With limited availability, the leasing team has been able to creative competitive tension on units and begin to establish a pattern of rental stability whilst pro-actively regearing leases to help stagger the expiry profile and engage with retailers to reinvest in their stores

FUTURE PROOFING

THE ASHLEY CENTRE

The recent successes of securing Primark, JD Sports and Gails Bakery are great building blocks to continue to drive the asset forward. We are aware great efforts are being made to secure M&S’s long-term presence and have seen the malls refurbishment works are well underway. We believe the following key initiatives need to be achieved in order to future proof the centre for years to come and drive unit shop rental growth:

· Secure Waitrose long term and improve its visibility

Upsize Next into a brand accretive store format

Secure a family leisure concept

Reposition and elevate the tenant mix along Central Square

· Buy in the M&S ownership and secure their long term commitment

The Ashley Centre’s wealthy demographic needs a wider offering to increase the frequency of their visits, but at the same time, entice the ‘Waitrose’ customer to shop across the ownership.

We will curate working with you a tenant mix cluster based on price point, which will create a clear identity and improve customer navigation around the ownership, increasing average transactional spend.

Waitrose and M&S are both great anchors for aspirational brands and the imminent mall investment will assist with operator discussions.

To highlight a few key active brands:

· Oliver Bonas – 1,500-3,000 sq ft

· Sostrene Grene – 4,000-6,000 sq ft

· Townhouse – 850-1,200 sq ft

· Space NK – 1,500-3,000 sq ft

· Castle Fine Art – 750-1,500 sq ft

· Mooch – 1,500-2,500 sq ft

· Phase Eight - 2,000-2,500 sq ft

Brand Elevation

Castle Fine Art Sostrene Grene

Opportunities should be explored to deliver a family focused leisure use within the Ashley Centre which will act as a footfall driver, increase dwell time, and improve spend within the scheme.

There is also room to enhance the food & beverage offering, predominantly for Quick Service Restaurants. This sub-sector will complement an incoming leisure use but must remain relevant to the existing office and student catchment.

The presence of Gail’s Bakery provides a great foundation to improve the high street tenant mix, and should an opportunity arise to asset manage a larger floorplate, we would envisage targeting an all-day offering that will resonate with the target demographic.

To highlight a few keys active brands:

· Rock Up – 6,000 – 12,000 sq ft

· Gymfinity – 14,000 – 18,000 sq ft

· Tortilla – 750-1,500 sq ft

· Willow / Cote – 3,000 – 4,000 sq ft

Macaroni Penguin

F&B & Family Leisure

Willow

The How

B2B marketing has moved on, and The Ashley Centre should be looking to attract the best and brightest brands across London’s leading suburbs. We should present the asset with high quality marketing collateral tailored to the target audience. Strong imagery with on brand messaging is essential. The marketing collateral should be updated regularly and available in multiple formats. The digital version is critical, but sometimes nothing beats talking to a retailer with an old fashioned brand book. Many retailers will have retained agents and getting them on side from the outset makes the process smoother. Conversely, independent retailers or ‘local champions’ will require a more direct targeted approach to the business owner. The branding needs to be linked into the B2C message and should include examples of the latest consumer marketing initiatives.

Social media, TikTok, Insta, Snapchat & Podcasts are the new breeding ground for emerging retail and leisure brands. Tapping into these social media channels is becoming a key part of retail agency and landlords should embrace these platforms to market their assets to both occupiers and consumers.

Nothing talks to retailers like statistics and generic consumer information is easy to provide. For key brands, a more structured approach such as a bespoke marketing pack, but with an impartial view from CACI or similar data sources may be required. Retailers love trading statistics, and although NDA’s are sometimes a barrier, providing a basket of sales density information across a market sector is persuasive when engaging with aspirational brands. To curate a more aspirational tenant mix, we will need to cluster brands together and it is important that we are aligned with you on deal structure.

Think Locally. Research local towns and neighbourhoods to look at what’s new and exciting. Shifting market trends has created a larger opportunity for local independents to attract ethical and sustainable focussed consumers. Working with centre management and the local BID is an effective way of aligning the needs of the local catchment with the provision of brands and initiatives within the centre. This could be in the form of customer surveys or information sourced from local forums, which are good tools to assist with our targeted marketing process for national brands and local independents.

PROPOSED FEE BASIS

Top-Up Fee

To provide the resource and time required to move the tenant mix on, we need a minimum annual fee of £40,000. If leasing fees on each anniversary of our instruction do not total £40,000 a top-up fee to cover the difference will be payable.

Standard Lettings (2 years or more)

10% per agent subject to a minimum fee of £3,500.