Landlord Shaftesbury has reported demand for restaurant, cafe and pub space in the West End remains strong.
In a trading update, the company, which owns just under 600 restaurants, pubs, cafes and shops in the West End, said that despite some emerging concerns regarding national economic trends and current political uncertainties, the West End’s economy continues to flourish, benefitting from London’s growing population and diverse economy.
Net income grew £3.4m to £42.1m in the six month to 31 March.
It said: “Importantly for us, retail and leisure spending generated by the visitor economy, and a very large local working population, continues to attract strong occupier demand across each of our locations. The focus of our proven, long-term management strategy is to create and foster distinctive, interesting and lively locations which attract footfall, businesses and spending, underpinned by the long-established strength of the West End’s economy. This enables businesses based here to benefit from a growing market, lessening the impact of increasing local and national taxation.”
The group said that occupier demand in the casual dining market remained exceptionally strong, as businesses are keen to establish in this exceptionally busy area.
It said: “We receive numerous competitive offers for any available restaurant space and vacancy levels are minimal. With such strong demand, we are identifying further opportunities to secure vacant possession of space where we can make improvements and attract new operators with innovative concepts on more beneficial terms.”
During the period, the company completed leasing transactions with a rental value of £4.5m, equivalent to 11% of restaurants, cafés and leisure ERV. This included five lettings and renewals, and seventeen rent reviews.
Chief executive Brian Bickell said: “This has been a period of considerable activity across our portfolio. A combination of sustained demand for accommodation in our areas and our asset management initiatives continues to deliver growing current and future potential rental income, underpinning growth in earnings, the value of our portfolio and shareholders’ investment in our business. We are confident that, with the benefit of our proven strategy, together with our experience and forensic knowledge of the West End, our business will continue to deliver growth in income and shareholder value over the long-term.”
The company also announced the appointment of Jonathan Nicholls as a non-executive director. He will join the Board on 1 September 2016 and will succeed Jonathan Lane OBE as chairman on 1 October 2016.
Nicholls currently has non-executive roles at Great Portland Estates plc, D S Smith plc, Ibstock plc and SIG plc. He will retire from the board of Great Portland Estates plc, where he is senior independent director and chair of the Audit Committee, at their annual general meeting in July 2016. His previous executive roles included group finance director at Hanson plc and Old Mutual plc, as well as other senior positions with Abbey National plc.
Lane OBE said: “Having asked the Board in November 2015 to undertake a process to identify my successor, I am delighted that Jonathan Nicholls will succeed me as chairman at the beginning of our next financial year. His broad and relevant experience will be welcomed by the whole Board.”
