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Developer plans to convert empty shopping centres into urban online distribution sites

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

Shortly after announcing it has swung back into profit, commercial property developer British Land has unveiled plans to convert empty retail centres and car parks into distribution centres for online shopping services.

The developer has unveiled multimillion-pound plans to create hubs for online shopping and same-day grocery delivery services.

More and more people turned to online shopping during the pandemic. The trend has continued and grown as more fast-delivery food companies, which offer free delivery to your doorstep in up to 20 minutes, join the marketplace.

While most are still based in London, some like Weezy, Fancy and Gorillas are delivering their service outside the capital, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper.

But others are now planning to expand into new cities as consumers demand shorter delivery times and stock needs to be stored a lot closer to their customers, creating so-called ‘last-mile’ depots.

British Land, which owns offices and shopping centres including Sheffield’s Meadowhall, and parks in Edinburgh and Plymouth, has put the total value of its pipeline of urban logistics properties at £600 million, and said it had spent £189 million on assets with logistics potential.

As part of its plan for expansion, it aims to acquire It aims to acquire more warehouses and add extra floors to existing ones to create the space for the hubs.

British Land’s chief executive, Simon Carter, said: “Taking existing logistics assets and going up, making them multi-storey, has been seen a lot in other supply-constrained markets particularly across Asia, and you are seeing more in Paris, but it hasn’t been done to a huge extent in the UK.

“Increasing expectation of delivery times, same-day delivery and in some cases 10-minute delivery is creating colossal demand for space at the same time that industrial space has shrunk in London.”

British Land announced its shift in strategy towards urban logistics and away from its traditional portfolio of shopping centres and office buildings in May.

The move comes as the newspaper quoted a report from a leading estate agent predicting retailers could need an extra 12 million sq ft of space for last-mile deliveries by 2025, when e-commerce could account for 30 per cent of all retail sales.

British Land recently reported it had collected 100 per of office rents and saw the busiest period for leasing workplace in a decade, as confidence returned to the commercial property sector. It reported a £370m profit after tax for the period, compared with a loss of £730m a year earlier, according to the Guardian newspaper.

For help and advice with commercial property matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.

Access to small business finance falls to “six-year low”

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

The number of small businesses applying for corporate finance has fallen to a six-year low, a study has revealed.

The research, published by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), shows that the withdrawal of coronavirus support schemes is restricting growth.

According to the Small Business Index (SBI), the volume of small business finance applications fell to a six-year low in the three months to September 2021, with just one in 10 (10 per cent) firms seeking new finance facilities.

The proportion of applications being approved by lenders also fell by 18 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2019, meaning just half (52 per cent) of businesses seeking finance received financial support.

In addition, more than half (57 per cent) of those were offered borrowing rates of over five per cent.

Elsewhere, the research shows that one in seven (14 per cent) small businesses reduced headcount in the third quarter, while eight in 10 (82 per cent) are not planning to recruit in the run up to Christmas.

The index – which provides a quarterly overview of business performance – also reveals that four in 10 (41 per cent) exporters are experiencing reduced international sales, while just one in five (21 per cent) are prepared for full customs checks from 01 January 2022.

Commenting on the figures, FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “Too many small exporters – often our most innovative and profitable firms – are struggling to get across new paperwork and preparations for import checks.

“As such, policymakers should revamp and relaunch the SME Brexit Support Fund, widening the eligibility criteria, and making deadlines for applications more realistic.”

For help and advice with related matters, please get in touch with our corporate finance team today.

Older workers victims of ageism at interviews, says survey

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

More and more people are working beyond retirement age, but many older workers are saying they are the victims of ageism.

According to a new survey, a significant number of those questioned admitted to lying about their age, and even if they get the job, believe they are not offered the same opportunities as younger workers.

Unlawful to discriminate because of age

The Equality Act 2010 says you mustn’t be discriminated against because of your age, which is unlawful.

It says it’s only unlawful discrimination if you’re treated unfairly because of certain reasons. These reasons are called protected characteristics. Age is one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act.

The poll of 2,000 workers aged 45-plus by Working Wise, a website supporting older people looking for work, found 44 per cent admitted altering their age on their CV to make them seem more attractive to employers.

The poll revealed one-in-three (34 per cent) older workers claimed they had experienced ageism during the interview process.

Open to learning new skills

Given the current shortage of workers in the UK, this seems counterproductive. The Institute for Employment Studies says more needs to be done to bring older workers, particularly older women, back into the labour market to address the skills shortage.

The poll also showed that despite 85 per cent of older workers being open to learning new skills, more than half claimed they had been given no access to training ‘recently’, while 30 per cent believed training was mainly aimed at young people in their organisation.

Gillian Nissim, founder of workingwise.co.uk, said: “Our research has unveiled the blatant ageism that is alive and kicking in the recruitment of older workers. Times have changed significantly, we are living and working for longer, and our pensions are getting pushed back too – and yet the cards are stacked against older workers who are trying to get back in.”

Work-life balance important

The Resolution Foundation recently found the pandemic had caused the largest annual fall in employment for older workers since the 1980s – with the fall in employment among those aged over 50 being twice as large as those aged 25-49.

The Working Wise research found 95 per cent of older workers said that a good work-life balance was important, while 76 per cent wanted a better work-life balance than they did when they were younger.

More than half (51 per cent) said they would consider taking a role that was a job share.

For help and advice on employment matters, contact our expert team.

Commercial property giants bounce back to profitability

Palmers Solicitors in Essex

It would seem the predicted demise of office working may have been over-exaggerated as property development firms bounce back into the black.

Two of the biggest, Land Securities (Landsec) and British Land Company, are back in the black, having surged ahead as the economy reopened.

British Land’s half-year numbers came Landsec also said it was back in profit, and other commercial landlords reported seeing similar trends.

British Land reports it has collected 100 per cent of office rents and saw the busiest period for leasing workplace in a decade, as confidence returned to the commercial property sector. It reported a £370m profit after tax for the period, compared with a loss of £730m a year earlier, according to the Guardian newspaper.

The company’s half-year report showed:

  • Portfolio value up 2.9 per cent with Campuses up three per cent and Retail & Fulfilment up 2.7 per cent driven by Retail Parks up 7.1 per cent
  • 1.8m sq ft leasing activity across the portfolio
  •  Strong rent collection: 96 per cent for the half, close to pre-pandemic levels in retail, with offices fully collected
  • Footfall and sales on Retail portfolio 89 per cent and 98 per cent (97 per cent and 98 per cent for retail parks) of pre-pandemic levels respectively.

British Land has a large portfolio of properties that includes the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield and campuses in mixed-use areas that have offices, retail, leisure and outdoors spaces.

The huge retail parks are still performing better than shopping centres, which are seeing fewer visitors as many office-based staff are still spending at least part of their week working from home.

Simon Carter, CEO at British Land, said: “We have delivered good financial and operational performance.  Strong leasing activity, significantly improved rent collection and increasing values across our Campuses and Retail Parks have driven 6.1 per cent total returns in the half.

“Current market trends reinforce the conviction we have in our strategy, and we are already seeing the benefits of our decision to focus on our unique campus proposition, the value play in retail parks and urban logistics development in London.

“Innovative growth businesses are focused more than ever on the highest quality, most sustainable workspace which we deliver at our Campuses.

“We expect the value opportunity in retail parks to continue with rents stabilising and yields moving in.”

British Land reports that post COVID-19, more customers are using their physical stores to support an online offer through click & collect, returns and ship from store. Retail parks are ideally suited to this and the space is more affordable, enabling retailers to operate profitably.

For help and advice with commercial property matters, please get in touch with our expert team today.