Who might fill the gap left by BHS?

In a recent article for Retail Week, commercial property partner Joanne Fearnley looks at what type of tenants will fill the void left by the closure of BHS.

Joanne said: “With the likes of Sports Direct, Primark and other discounters likely to come into the space, this could contribute to the downward movement of the high street towards discounters. You can end up with a high street full of discount shops. But there are new players in the market all the time and it would be good to see a player that isn’t a discounter.

“The market has changed since Woolworths, then retailers were willing to pay for over-rented leases because they were in the right locations. I think it will be more a question of people doing deals with landlords individually. People won’t want to be paying to take over those leases at anything higher than the market value. A lot of the stores will end up back with the landlords and over the next 12 months these properties will trickle back to the market.”

The full article can be found here, on Retail Week Property Suppliment, p10.

If you would like to discuss this article in further detail, please contact Joanne on 0113 227 2100 or at joanne.fearnley@gordonsllp.com