Innes England collects Co-operative contract

INNES England has been awarded a new contract to handle lease consultancy work by The Co-operative Group.

The property consultant has been awarded the three year contract in the group’s Central and Eastern region for trading stores. This follows on from the announcement that Innes England had been instructed to take on asset management work for its non-trading store portfolio last year. The region covers 15 counties and stretches from the West Midlands to North Nottinghamshire, across to the East Coast, south to the M25 and north-west along the M1 corridor.

The Co-operative is the UK’s largest mutual business, owned by over six million individual members, as opposed to private shareholders. It is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, the leading convenience store operator and a major financial services provider, operating The Co-operative Bank and The Co-operative Insurance. Among its other businesses is the number one funeral services provider and Britain’s largest farming operation.

The group operates 4,800 retail trading outlets, employs more than 100,000 people and has an annual turnover of more than £13bn.

David Blellock, regional portfolio manager at The Co-operative Estates, said: “Innes England has delivered good results on the asset management work, so we were happy to appoint the team for the additional professional services work. We have a strong in-house management team which takes care of the property portfolio, but alongside this team, we really value the advice from Innes England.”

Innes England will handle lease management work including rent reviews and lease renewals for around 100 trading properties which includes food stores, funeral units and pharmacies.

Gary Woodward, director of Innes England’s Derby office where the majority of the work will be delivered, said: “We are proud of the strong relationship we have developed with The Co-operative over the last ten years and delighted to have been instructed on this work.  

“The majority of the work will focus on rent review and lease renewals. We are also tasked with considering ways in which we can improve the group’s position with regards to leasehold matters – for instance lease re-gears or making sure that lease terms are favourable. In the last year alone we collected over £5.5m in rent for The Co-operative excluding service charges and insurance so our priority is to deliver the same results in the professional work as we have managed to achieve with the asset management services.”