Rent Crisis for depressed high streets
Boarded up shops booming on the Uk’s high streets have led to desperation within the retail landlord community. So much so that retail landlords are prepared to lease their empty units for as much as £1 a year on hard to let stores. Likewise some retail landlords have elected in desperation to be targeting charity shops to alleviate the desolated shops on the high streets, as typically charity shops will receive an 80% discount.
Usually charged at 40 percent of a shops estimated rental value, crisis PR has hit the business rate system hard as a flurry of negative criticisms by retailers and landlords have publicized their concern that rate bills will increase by up to 5.6%. If this is to continue towards April, many areas will continue to tumble. This underlines the business PR concerns for the trade market, as it will create uneconomical trade to acure in certain locations within the United Kingdom.
Corporate development director at Card Factory, Andy Garbutt has shown that reputation management and having a good PR agency behind them is fundamental in order to be flexible to change.
Garbutt states that Card Factory are focusing on making their property portfolio as flexible as possible, so they are able to cope with the dynamic changes the high street market is facing. Garbutt’s statement coincides with the ever flurry of negative criticisms by retailers and landlords that have publicized their concern to the fact that business rates are now higher than the rents which is a deterrent to new shops opening.
Card Factory’s crisis management has shown that Card Factory is still expanding showing other mass retailers their approach’s is working. As companies including Dixons, Mothercare, Thornton’s and Arcadia Group led by Sir Philip Green are all vacating their high street stores and focusing their trade within the retail parks, shopping centers and online.
The vacating of trading within high street stores has been fuelled also by the fall within consumer spending. According to the Local Data Company, average high street vacancy rates now are at 14.3% compared to 4% in 2008.
Liz Peace, Chief executive of the British Property Federation states that, “Changing shopping habits and a faltering economy have pushed some areas past the point of no return, and where businesses cannot afford both rents and business rates then clearly rents will have to give.” Therefore this shows that Business PR and adequate crisis management ready and waiting to be implemented can help look towards long-term practical ways of being flexible to change.
About the Author: Katie Matthews is working in a media training in UK and recommends you to visit http://www.pha-media.com/
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