Contact:
National Director
Operations Board
Retail
With an extensive network of offices, Watts is well placed to provide a consistent and rapid response to its retail clients. There continues to be cautious expansion among major retailers, with the large supermarkets driving forward their building programmes. Watts continue to act on behalf of numerous clients including retailers, landlords and investment funds.
We can provide a range of services to help our clients achieve better value from their capital expenditure and operating spend:
- Landlord and tenant matters including expert dilapidations advice and condition surveys.
- Maintenance management; PPM schedules and coordination of maintenance work.
- Design services and the project management of UK-wide retail fit-out programmes.
- Project management, construction and development monitoring advice
- Energy audits/sustainability linked advice.
Watts understands that sustainable profit growth is getting a lot harder for our clients and the complexities of managing national property portfolios. The strength of Watts’ UK expertise, network and ability to work together to provide a standardised co-ordinated approach has been key to our success. We operate a dedicated retail team across our network of offices.
Watts’ work in the retail sector consists on work with two main types of clients:
Landlords of retail premises
Watts have a long and established track record of working for landlords of retail premises. Our experience includes strategic work on shopping centres, large portfolios of retail property and single stand alone units. Our expertise of retail and the high street particularly, as well as our ability to work closely with landlords, means that we are able to really enhance the value of the asset and change the retail profile in any given area.
While the nature of our work is often that we act either for the landlord or the tenant in dilapidations matters, we have also demonstrated that we have worked with both sides in specific instructions to, for example change the appearance of a unit or re-configure space.
Our services in this regard typically include:
- Pre-acquisition / purchasers building surveys
- Feasibility advice and cost plans
- Design services, Contract administration and CDM coordination.
- Planning and advice on re configuring internal layouts and arrangements
- Dilapidations
- DDA access audits
- PPMs
- Strategic advice on tenants and their requirements
Retail occupiers and operators
In this turbulent time for retailers, the need for professional, pragmatic and timely advice has never been greater. Social trends and technological developments such as internet shopping has changed the face of the high street and the way people shop.
Our services are tailored to suit our retail occupier clients’ requirements from before a property is acquired through to disposal.
Our services to retail occupiers typically include:
- Pre-acquisition / purchasers building surveys
- Feasibility advice (e.g. prior to fit out, etc)
- Design services, Contract administration and CDM coordination.
- Production of Schedules of fixtures and fittings (important before entering a lease agreement)
- Schedules of Condition
- DDA access audits
- Fire Risk Assessments
- Asbestos Management reviews and surveys
