If you hear a bang on Wednesday...

dandy-candy

Commercial quarterly rents are due again on Wednesday...

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article5941546.ece
"JJB Sports, the retailer, is racing to raise cash before a quarterly rent deadline that insolvency experts say could bring a fresh wave of retailing failures.
Most retailing chains will be faced on Wednesday with a rent bill for the next three months. The Boxing Day demand put several out of business and insolvency experts expect further pressure on the sector....Jessops, the camera shop, also faces a crucial rent day next week."

They way things have been over the last quarter I will expect more companies will go bust, and more unlucky people will hit the dole queues. Omg it's depressing

Conrad

I think we just have to recognise the shop premises model for many sectors is no longer viable. Where these retailers fail, online providers will take up the slack.

The usual reply to this is - well I l've shopping and prefer hands on. The point is the trend is against high street premises and nothing will reverse that. I virtualy never do a physical shop and my children will probably follow suit.

Andrew64

Why the rent has to be quarterly up-front instead of monthly is beyond me. It's almost like the property companies want their tenants to go to the wall. Add to that upward only rent revisions and you have a recipe for disaster! It'll serve these landlords right when their tenants all go out of business and they're left with empty shops they can't let. They'll go bust too!

bo_drinker

There are 50 + empty shops here now. Some new businesses started up and went to the wall before the second rent was due. We will see more over the next week or so as rents are due. It's not looking good out there.

Alan_M_2

It's a very big deal, we are about to start year three of a three year lease on Wednesday.

We explained to the landlord if we were to remain in their premises we'd require a reduction as so much vacant property is available.

We've been offered a 55% reduction in rent if we sign for a further 3 years.

From £7.75 sq/ft to £3.50 sq/ft for a warehouse near Gatwick airport.

It's a good offer and makes a massive difference to our future prospects. There are some landlords out there with a realistic perspective on what's going on.

They also offered to accept monthly direct debit which also helps cashflow even further.

fc123

Good for you Alan M.

Our landlord is a moron (sorry for the 70's throwback expression...but no other word comes to mind).

They have a graph on their investment website that's worse than my Real Life Land shops T/O during the past year. http://threadneedle.fundsource.fundworks.com/links/ukpt.pdf

see the smug bas3 7ard in the pic Don Jordisson.......We just fokked him.


Biggest irony is one our most loyal customers (wealthy type...but for how much longer??) invested a shed load of cash with our LL.....and is going to try and pull it out quick. He had no idea how clueless they were about the actual type of business they run (managing retail leases).....cos they made a mountain of £££ during a boom....and haven't worked out that it wasn't because they were smart and dead clever....it was just chance and the bubble inflating in their favour.


PS I have just drunk half a bottle of champagne (Lidl 9.99) and all I can type is fokkety fokk coherently at the mo.

bo_drinker

Alan_M wrote: »

It's a very big deal, we are about to start year three of a three year lease on Wednesday.

We explained to the landlord if we were to remain in their premises we'd require a reduction as so much vacant property is available.

We've been offered a 55% reduction in rent if we sign for a further 3 years.

From £7.75 sq/ft to £3.50 sq/ft for a warehouse near Gatwick airport.

It's a good offer and makes a massive difference to our future prospects. There are some landlords out there with a realistic perspective on what's going on.

They also offered to accept monthly direct debit which also helps cashflow even further.

You have a good LL there, many are on cloud 9. It is frightening what is going on out there and some still want top dollar. Councils will never budge on rates though, there may come a time when they have to, it happened in Wales with new start ups a while ago.

fc123

bo_drinker wrote: »

You have a good LL there, many are on cloud 9. It is frightening what is going on out there and some still want top dollar. Councils will never budge on rates though, there may come a time when they have to, it happened in Wales with new start ups a while ago.

Our throwback LL (in their pricey suits) have their mindset stuck in the boom of 1986. They really don't get it. retail is undergoing massive change...the Cr Cr is just giving it a bit of a 'hurry up' shove. Rents inflated partly due to Bauger type companys paying silly money (cos it was on the never never), 'phone shops selling contracts, the profit wasn't in the actual products, coffee shops and chain food outlets, chain clothing stores churning out high margin product churned out of The Far East etc etc.

And then broadband went mainstream and the internet with quick loading piccies etc came along.....and they never saw it coming. Doh.