COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

After The Pain, The Gain

Graham Timmins, head of business transfer at Miller Commercial, reflects on the sector from a property perspective.

When at the beach recently, it was an absolute joy to see people, young and old, relaxing in and out of the water and enjoying what makes the south west such a special place to live and earn a living, largely fuelled by these very people, ergo the ‘Tourism Sector’. Wind back a year to the day, I was back from two months furlough and the world and our region seemed a very dark place indeed. One year on, we can look forward with tempered optimism and at the foundations for this and with a nod to the challenges that face the sector.

For the property sector per se, six months into the pandemic, October/November, we saw a massive increase in activity. There was a quantum shift to a mindset that this was something we will have to live with, we are living with it, by working from home more often (lockdown dependant) and a general re-adjustment of life choices. To evidence this I would say the enquiries from buyers from outside the SW region (typically London, Home Counties and Midlands) had a c. 100% rise, so from 45% to 90% of enquiries. This was in part-fuelled by the Stamp Duty holiday

and its subsequent extension and a residential market that was ‘dormant’ for the first 3-4 months in lockdown. So, we have seen a definite over demand issue for some old and more pertinently new stock. The clients we have seen in the past few months are definitely looking to recoup some losses/add value to their businesses before a sale this autumn/ winter, when we anticipate a lot of businesses being made available. Lack of stock (businesses for sale) has been the main issue. Clients quite rightly hunkered down; who wants to buy a closed businesses after all? But post Summer 2020 when mercifully the sun shone, the lockdown was lifted and UK holidays resumed, albiet hospitality volume was restricted, clients reported a late, but ‘not a bad season after all’ which is now being shown in year-end accounts. For us, the overwhelming majority of our clients have managed to stay afloat, with the help of Bounce Back Loans, Grants and the Furlough scheme. Sector winners have been leisure as the staycation is on everyone’s lips, with an extended season happening, i.e. fully booked from Easter until the end of September, and even good bookings for 2022. Demand for services is not an issue, servicing this demand at the time of writing is. Hospitality sector analysts are reporting a c. 20-25% staff shortage gap, from house-keeping through to chefs, as a proportion of people have moved away (post furlough) from this sector and EU workers Lack of stock have returned and either do not wish or cannot yet return to the UK. (businesses for As for chartered surveyors and other sale) has been the professionals it has been an exceptional year, with a high volume of transactions, main issue with many firms looking for new staff across all disciplines, so this V-shaped recovery obviously has some traction. Within business transfer, we are anticipating more demand from buyers who are gearing up resources to meet this. We would of course be pleased to hear from any business owner to discuss. Call me on 07900 604 078 or email me via gt@miller-commercial.co.uk