Following my previous post on this topic, you
would be forgiven for thinking that it is not economically viable to open a retail
shop in a central location in Bath. This is just not the case. Provided you can
find the right property it can be extremely lucrative to trade in Bath - one of
the UK’s most popular cities.
In Bath the prime retail locations are generally
located on a “spine” of the city that extends from Milsom Street down to
Southgate. In general terms the rents
for shops located on this spine are higher than those elsewhere reflecting the
high level of footfall. Prime rents are currently £200ITZA and are predicted to
rise during 2015 due to lack of available vacant retail space.
If you take a walk from the top of Milsom Street
to the train station you will see that trading on the spine is mainly (but not
exclusively) the preserve of the national or regional retailer. On this spine there
are also hot and cold spots where the footfall and the rental rates vary from
the headline prime. The location of the spots changes over time depending on a
variety of factors.
Elsewhere in the city centre it becomes
more complicated. Just because for
example, a property is located a handful of meters away from the central spine it
does not automatically mean that it is in a good location for your business.
Don’t be fooled by the high asking rents on certain properties and assume this
translates to an excellent location.
Other locations do exist in the centre of
Bath that offer excellent opportunities for the well informed retailer to trade
from at a fraction of the costs paid by some occupiers trading from prime
locations.
Enlisting the services of a local chartered
surveyor can not only help with understanding the dynamics in the city of Bath,
and with understanding the types of retail offer that work in specific
locations but can also give you access to valuable “off-market” opportunities.
As part of this firms search and lease
negotiation service we actively explore these “off-market” opportunities which
are accessed via both our extensive contact list and our proprietary search
procedures. The Bath retail market has seen a lot of demand from retailers in
2014 with no indication of this demand abating in 2015.
