A1 - Land Securities

THE RETAIL MAGAZINE FROM LAND SECURITIES | WINTER 2009

FROM TWITTER TO THE TILLS How retailers are making the most of social networking St David’s Dewi Sant opens Brand Empire Clear and simple

Contents

Alma Media International Rayner’s Court, 737 Garratt Lane London SW17 0PD T +44 (0)20 8944 1155 / www.almamedia.co.uk Editor Dominic Bliss Publisher Tony Richardson / tony@almamedia.co.uk Design Deep / www.deep.co.uk Images Land Securities, Next, Republic, TK Maxx, John Lewis Partnership, Apple, Cocoperez.com, Leon, Hollister, LK Bennett, Jamie’s Italian, Recipease, Marks & Spencer, Stores 09, French Connection, Monsoon, Superdry, Natural Kitchen, Dominic James and Twitter.

For Land Securities Tom Foulkes Tom.Foulkes@landsecurities.com T +44 (0)20 7024 5089 Claire Reynolds Claire.Reynolds@landsecurities.com T +44 (0)20 7747 2390 © Alma Media International Ltd 2009 All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of Alma Media International is strictly forbidden. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at the time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for omissions or errors. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Alma Media International or Land Securities.

Are online social media taking over the world? Judging by the amount of time everyone spends on Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and the like, you’d be forgiven for thinking so. These new media have even made massive inroads into the world of retail, as our feature From Twitter to the tills (page 14) explains.

Elsewhere in this issue we look at how Land Securities is simplifying the entire leasing process for its occupiers; how we’re enticing the very best overseas retail brands to the UK; how we’ve embarked on rent reform; and why investment in future shopping centres is looking brighter than ever.

Talking of future shopping centres, don’t miss details of the latest Land Securities development to open, St David’s Dewi Sant, in Cardiff.

See page 20.

RICHARD AKERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, RETAIL

04

News Recent news, key openings, events and awards.

06 Bites News and snippets from the world of retail.

16 Crystal clear

Ever wish the entire leasing process was a lot more simple? It is now thanks to Land Securities’ new Clearlet tenancy agreements.

08 Latest lettings The very latest retailers signed up to Land Securities developments.

18 Meeting the challenge

Retail MD, Richard Akers on the challenges of environmental sustainability, rent reform and investment in future shopping centres.

10 Hot shop: What’s cooking?

Jamie Oliver’s new retail project combines a deli, a kitchenware shop and a cooking school.

20 Cardiff lifts off

The St David’s Dewi Sant centre in Cardiff opens for business.

12 World of interiors

A new glossy book on store design proves retailers are still innovating.

23 Competition

Win £500 of John Lewis vouchers.

14 From Twitter to the tills

British retailers are using social networking websites to draw in customers. Facebook, Twitter and the like are helping boost business.

24 It’s all about teamwork

Behind the scenes at St David’s Dewi Sant in Cardiff as the management team prepare for opening day.

26 Come to Britain

A new Land Securities retail venture aims to entice top brands to the UK. 28 The work-shop balance

Faulty irons, St Paul’s Cathedral and driving in rural Oxforshire: all in a day’s work for Land Securities’ Retail Manager London Portfolio.

30 The retail therapists The burning issues in retail at Land Securities, as discussed by their top asset managers.

32 Arts in the city

Plans are afoot for an interactive art installation at the new TrinityLeeds shopping centre in Leeds. Professional artists (and locals) will be encouraged to daub it with their art.

34

Retail portfolio A quick overview of our retail centres and developments.

The City is changing

News

Land Securities is changing the face of the City of London.

One New Change is bringing an unprecedented mix of uses and pioneering design to the capital city. October saw the topping out ceremony which celebrated construction reaching its highest point.

Due for practical completion in September 2010, One New Change will provide four floors of office space and three floors of retail, bringing a new dynamic to the area and celebrating both modern and historic architecture.

Up to 750,000 people visit St Paul’s Cathedral each year, while footfall in the vicinity reaches the millions – One New Change is ideally located to transform their experience. Nearly half of the 65 shop and restaurant units have already been let to the likes of Hobbs, Reiss, H&M, Marks & Spencer and Topshop.

It is part of the regeneration of the City of London, and One New Change will be particularly transformational due to its retail offering.

One New Change, Topping Out Ceremony, 13th October 2009

Cabot Circus pushes green button Home from home John Lewis has chosen The Commerce Centre, Poole, in Dorset, as the site of its very first John Lewis At Home store. The retailer’s new stand-alone home and electricals shop is spread across 40,000 sq ft at the Land Securities development in Branksome, alongside Homebase, Boots and Laura Ashley. If successful, it will be the prototype for further At Home outlets all across the UK. The company says it has already identified between 30 and 50 potential towns where demand for such a store would be high.

Products on sale include furniture, lighting, bedroom and bathroom accessories, kitchenware, electrical goods, and white goods. The store also features ‘customer access terminals’ which allow shoppers to browse the full John Lewis range online.

“Our research identified Poole as a good catchment,” says Andy Street, Managing Director at John Lewis. “Land Securities was able to accommodate us very quickly. Christmas trading will be a key indicator for us to decide how soon we should expand the format across the country.”

Bristol’s flagship shopping centre, Cabot Circus, has won an award for its environmental sustainability. At this year’s Estates Gazette Green Awards the Land Securities scheme – a joint venture with Hammerson plc – won in the Overall Green Development of the Year category.

Launched in 2008, the EG Green Awards are designed to reward sustainable property development, and to raise awareness of environmental issues.

News 05

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4 STYLEBUBBLE.TYPEPAD.COM 10,000 readers a day and rising. Fashion blog Style Bubble (posted by London journalist Susie Bubble, aka Susie Lau) has been attracting fans across Europe, USA and Asia ever since it launched three years ago and is now considered essential reading for even mainstream fashionistas. Susie lists the following as her favourite accessories: Salvatore Ferragamo bow flats, grey jersey T-shirt that hangs right, a proper pair of black opaque tights, vintage slip dresses/ skirts and some well-fitting leather gloves.

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3 COCOPEREZ.COM Perez Hilton knows a thing or two about celebrity gossip, as anyone who has seen the infamous perezhilton.com (aka “Hollywood’s most hated website”) will testify.

His new blog, cocoperez.com, concentrates on the fashion side of celebrity. Just as bitchy, and just as funny, it’s essential surfing for anyone who wants to keep up with what outfits the rich and famous are sporting.

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2 THESARTORIALIST.COM Scott Schuman has been hailed by GQ magazine as “one of the most influential style bloggers on the planet”.

His massively popular blog, thesartorialist.com, posts photos of ordinary people wearing cool clothes, shot mainly on the streets of New York and London. Here’s Scott on British men’s style: “Man, you British just love a pale pink shirt. It’s tough because it blends into your skin and it looks as if you’re only wearing a tie around your neck.”

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1 WHATKATIEWORE.COM Scottish blogger Katie Mackay has challenged herself to wear a different outfit every day for a year. The results enjoy something of a cult following on her website, with over 1,500 page views a day.

“Sometimes it’s just a random assortment of brightly coloured things pulled together by a piece of jewellery or silly tights,” says the 20-something selfconfessed shoe-hoarder.

She apparently has over 200 pairs in her wardrobe.

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Lesley Exley has hunted some of the finest heads in the retail business. MD of Exley Hervey, an executive search agency in London, she has placed senior staff at the likes of Fortnum & Mason, Fat Face, Banana Republic, Ann Summers, The White Company, Christie’s and Fabergé. She and her colleagues specialise in retail, luxury brands, consumer brands and e-commerce.

“We are a boutique agency, so while we don’t place huge numbers of candidates, we do place the top executives in the top retail jobs,” she says.

Lesley has held a few top jobs of her own.

After working in brand management for L’Oréal, the International Gold Corporation and Waterford Wedgwood, she took up her first retail role at Zales jewellers.

The job that firmly cemented her place in big-time retail was in 1992 when she was appointed marketing director of Selfridges.

“When I joined, the store was like Are You Being Served?,” she says. “It was nearly 100 years old and part of this huge conglomerate.

Our team put together the business strategy for transforming it into a destination department store for the next century.”

Thanks to hands-on experience in sectors as diverse as jewellery, ceramics, textiles, fashion, beauty and, in the case of Selfridges, just about everything else, Lesley says she understands the massively different cultures of the companies she headhunts for. Ensuring that potential executives match these varying cultures is, she believes, the main reason for Exley Hervey’s success. She claims her company is now one of the top boutique headhunters in the UK, and “fast becoming known for our expertise in e-commerce”.

Lesley lives in west London with her husband and their teenage daughter.

It’s all very well having a huge turnover, but if your store is the size of a football pitch then that turnover can become diluted by expensive overheads. One large London store, however, is reaping enormous sales despite its massive floorspace.

The Apple store, on London’s Regent Street, stretches 28,000 square feet across two floors, yet its tills still ker-ching to more than £60 million a year in takings – that’s over £2,100 per square foot. According to retail research company Verdict Research, this is one of the highest turnovers per area – or sales densities, as they’re known – in the whole country.

“Whether it is actually the highest in the country, however, is rather open to debate,” says the research company’s consulting director Neil Saunders.

“There may well be luxury jewellers or niche high-end clothing stores with higher density numbers.”

What about some of the better known UK stores? Yes, you guessed it: Tesco is the big boy (see graph below), with an average of £1,232 in takings per square foot. Close behind is Sainsbury’s at £1,012. Then comes Harrods at £775, Selfridges at £655 and John Lewis at £640.

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NICK PEEL Head of Retail Property Management For books I mainly use Waterstone’s, in Harrogate, my home town. Their multi-buy promotions at holiday periods are always very competitive and include a broad choice. With three children under the age of seven, we spend every weekend buying children’s books of varying age levels. My kids seem to be eating them at present, and they are on first-name terms with the staff.

Don’t laugh, but I have one foot slightly bigger than the other. Freak! So when it comes to shoes, half sizes and soft but hard-wearing leather are important. For work shoes I use Hoopers, a department store in Harrogate, which has a fabulous men’s department. My choice in recent years has been Prada, but since I’m a Scotsman, they usually have to be in the sale. For casual shoes I stock up from Camper, in Dublin, when we visit a couple of times a year.

Which UK stores are taking the most cash per area of shopfloor?

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Sharon Moore PA at Land Securities Retail I’m a crime novel junkie, so a trip to Waterstone’s (in The Grand Building, on London’s Trafalgar Square) is a must for me on a regular basis, especially when they have their ‘3 for the price of 2’ offers.

Staff are knowledgeable and happy to help search for a specific item, or order it if it’s not in stock.

I prefer the tactile approach to books, browsing before I buy, so I don’t often purchase on-line.

I love buying shoes, even though I’m no longer able to wear the high heels I used to. There’s a beautiful shoe shop in Scarborough called Pavers Shoes (on Westborough), and when I’m visiting I try to pick up one or two pairs. The service is excellent and they are very patient. I usually try five or six pairs and then attempt to whittle them down to one or two. Their shoes are always just a little different and I’m less likely to bump into anyone wearing the same pair.

Fashion bloggers are the new masters when it comes to which clothes we buy and lust after. But of the thousands of blogs out there, which are the most unmissable?

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ANDREW RAWLINGS Portfolio Manager For nearly two decades now, I have pawed over the shelves of Galloway and Porter, in Cambridge.

Not only is it a hybrid discount bookshop, but it has over three floors of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a fantastic collection of history, art and poetry books. It’s great for the self-indulgent reader or to buy presents for that great aunt with a literary bent.

With a shoe size of only six and a half, this does prove a challenge. Being an avid bargain hunter I usually visit TK Maxx. There’s a great one at Willow Place, the shopping centre I look after in Corby.

How is it you can buy a pair of hand-made Italian shoes for under £50?

When it comes to placing top executives in the UK retail industry, headhunters wield enormous power.

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E-commerce is severely threatening high street bookshops. But these three Land Securities employees are still happily browsing. They’re rather fond of their shoes, too.

POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH

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WHERE WHEREI IBUY BUYMY MYESSENTIALS ESSENTIALS

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Sales density (£ per sq ft) Source: Verdict Research

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Some of the latest lettings at Land Securities Retail St David’s Dewi Sant Cardiff John Lewis Debenhams Hollister H&M New Look Hugo Boss Crew Radley All Saints Fat Face Reiss LK Bennett

Jamie’s Italian Coast Karen Millen Warehouse Oasis Cult Fenchurch Quiksilver Apple Store Links of London TGI Fridays Yo! Sushi

It’s fashion and food all the way as new businesses make the most of retail developments in Cardiff, Bristol, Liverpool and London.

08 Lettings update

Cabot Circus Bristol Hollister The North Face Gant Jones the Bootmaker Sainsbury’s Currys PC World

Clayton Square Liverpool Maplin Mothercare ELC New Street Square London EC4 Hotel Chocolat Corney & Barrow Caffé Vergnano Pod Chequers

St David’s Dewi Sant, Cardiff Welsh shoppers are relishing the choice of over 150 new shops, cafés and restaurants at the major St David’s Dewi Sant development, which opened successfully on October 22nd in the heart of Cardiff. Delivered by Land Securities in partnership with Capital Shopping Centres, it boasts the extensively re-landscaped external street The Hayes, bisected by a series of retail-rich thoroughfares.

“The scale and impact of St David’s Dewi Sant needs to be seen to be believed,” says Keith Stone, Leasing Director at Land Securities. “John Lewis has opened a fabulous store.

The development will have a significant impact on retailing in Cardiff.”

Cardiff is one of the largest cities in the UK and a European capital. In spite of the testing economic conditions, over 70 per cent of floorspace is already committed, providing an exciting mix of fashion, major stores, department stores, cafés and restaurants. In September John Lewis chose this location to open its largest department store outside of London, and already trading is well above expectations. Debenhams has extended its outlet to create one of the chain’s largest stores in the UK, while Marks & Spencer provides the third anchor.

H&M and New Look have taken major flagship stores, ensuring fashion fans will flock to the centre. The external area, The Hayes, is almost fully let. It will include brands new to Cardiff such as Hugo Boss, Crew and accessories favourite Radley. All standalone stores, they will sit alongside other fashion draws such as All Saints,

John Grimes

Keith Stone

David Atcherley-Symes

Retail Leasing Director

Alliance Leasing Director

Retail Manager

Fat Face, Links of London, Reiss and LK Bennett. The restaurant Jamie’s Italian is also joining the party.

In the Grand Arcade, which sweeps from north to south through the centre, the fashion line-up is already looking very impressive. All four of the Aurora brands – Coast, Karen Millen, Warehouse and Oasis – are represented, joining Cult, Fenchurch and Quiksilver, among others.

The Apple store had a sensational opening day with extensive queues down the Arcade.

Cabot Circus, Bristol Bristol’s Cabot Circus scheme has gone from strength to strength since it opened in September last year.

The Bristol Alliance (Land Securities & Hammerson) own over 1.5 million sq ft of retail floorspace in the city centre and over 30 new shops have opened across the estate since the opening of Cabot Circus. Abercrombie & Fitch’s sister brand Hollister has taken a 9,200 sq ft store which will open in December.

Other new names include The North Face, Gant, Jones the Bootmaker, Sainsbury’s, Currys and PC World.

Clayton Square, Liverpool Clayton Square is in the heart of Liverpool’s retail quarter and shoppers and tourists can expect to see a host of new names arriving here in Spring 2010. Electronics brand Maplin and Mothercare/ELC have signed up to 2,500 sq ft and 15,000 sq ft units respectively.

According to Retail Leasing Director

John Grimes, this marks the start of a wider leasing programme that will reposition the centre within Liverpool’s retail hierarchy.

New Street Square, London EC4 Situated just off historic Fetter Lane in central London, New Street Square is an office campus with retail and dining attached, catering for highearning City workers based in the five nearby office buildings.

“There’s a big lunch trade and brands that suit the market, including Hotel Chocolat and Corney & Barrow,” says David Atcherley-Symes, Retail Manager for Land Securities’ London portfolio.

The award-winning Italian café Caffé Vergnano has just been signed, while organic café Pod is opening in November, bringing some individuality and wider choice to the centre. Hair and beauty specialist Chequers is opening in February next year, offering Clarins facial treatments, waxing and tanning to busy office workers.

One New Change, London This high-profile mixed-use development in a stunning City of London location is taking shape as it heads towards the planned October 2010 opening. One New Change will offer state-of-the-art office accommodation and more than 60 retail units over three floors, all on the doorstep of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Atcherley-Symes expects a raft of exciting retail and restaurant names to be announced very soon.

Latest lettings

Jamie Oliver’s latest retail project combines a delicatessen, a kitchenware shop and a cooking school.

The new south London branch is so impressive that it has won the prestigious Land Securities’ Best UK Retail Interior at this year’s Retail Interiors Awards, as John Ryan discovers.

From the outside it almost suggests food porn. The front of Jamie Oliver’s new “food and kitchen emporium” – Recipease, in south London – features an unmissable, powder pink façade, while the shop window is crammed with cookbooks, crockery and delicious, wholesome food.

The location, in Battersea, near the very upmarket Northcote Road, is perfect: there are dozens of specialist food retailers and delicatessens along this stretch, all very popular with the young professionals and families that live in the adjoining streets.

Step inside and you’re not quite sure where to look. After wading through the display racks and counters filled to the brim with gorgeous-looking jams, relishes, bottles of wine, kitchenware, crockery and (of course) lots of Jamie Oliver-branded books and cooking products, you then find yourself at a huge, cooking station, slap bang in the middle of the shop floor. Atop the marble work surfaces are tubs of peppers and lemons. Perched on the canopy above are dozens of spice jars. Spoons and other kitchen implements hang down.

Recipease is the latest brand extension from the cheeky TV chef. It’s designed to offer fine ingredients, the tools to cook them and tuition in how best to prepare them. Overall it’s a stunning shop, good enough to sweep the board at this year’s Retail Interiors Awards, picking up gongs for Best Visual Merchanding, Best Small Shop and the grand prix Land Securities Best UK Retail Interior.

“Jamie’s very keen to get people involved in working with and thinking about food,” explains Simon Cochrane, Recipease’s Managing Director. “When we came to look at how we could create a store that would allow people to buy food and to learn how to cook it, we wanted to do something different. We didn’t want to follow a particular design, so we started from scratch.”

The outcome is a store where food, and all things involved in its preparation, is displayed in an environment reminiscent of a rural

French or Italian market. Its unique selling point, however, is that trained chefs will give you lessons in how to cook the food you buy there, before sending you home with the dishes you create.

Learn how to make Italian-style pizza, for example, or risotto, or apple pancakes, or mozzarella meatballs, steak, sea bass, pasta, crumble, pork belly, cottage pie…there’s even an industrial-sized TV screen on one wall as a teaching aid.

“It’s a buzzing community hub for great food, inspiration and cooking skills,” says Jamie himself. “Whether you’re a complete novice or a seasoned pro, you can come here to ask questions, learn new skills, get inspiration and try some really fantastic food.

Come in, do a lesson, grab a great dinner to take home, or just nosey around, picking up inspiration.”

“It’s a buzzing community hub for great food, inspiration and cooking skills.” Jamie Oliver Cochrane says that between 25 and 30 per cent of Recipease customers come for a cookery lesson. While the ingredients on sale are certainly not cheap, he stresses that his clientele will be saving money by eating at home instead of in a restaurant.

This, he adds, is the justification for opening the shop during tough economic times.

That said, walk through this part of south London and it’s almost as if the financial crisis never happened. The area is filled with young professionals and their families, many on a mission to shop for quality food. Fantastic visual merchandising and a shop fit-out where nothing has been left to chance, would seem to indicate that Recipease is in for the long game. The Battersea store opened in March, and a second branch came to Brighton, two months later.

Hot shop 11

World of interiors By rights, the world of store design should have ground to a halt in 2009. But the Stores 2009 book, from Land Securities, proves that retailers are still innovating. John Ryan reports.

Despite the effects of the recession, store design around the world continues apace. All throughout the financial tumult of the last year or so, retailers have been unveiling glamorous new interiors at the top end of the spectrum and, further down the food chain, new formats with true popular appeal have continued to appear.

So when it came to choosing the last year’s best 50 stores for a new book, the task was one of editing, rather than a desperate scramble to seek out novelty.

Some of the projects were so stunning that they virtually selected themselves: House of Barbie in Shanghai, for example, or the Primark stores in Bristol and Bremen, and Uniqlo’s highly contemporary structure in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighbourhood.

But there has been excellent work in all sectors. Both big and small retailers have been pulling out the design stops to ensure they remain competitive. For this, the third book in Land Securities’ ‘Stores’ series, the view was that there are now sufficiently strong trends to separate the store designs into different themes.

So, rather than just being a coffee-table volume, Stores 2009 features different sections ranging from ‘Green’ and ‘Luxury’, to ‘Pop-up’ stores and ‘Visual Merchandising’. The aim is to inform as well as entertain.

The other task that is always something of a headache when putting together a book of this nature is imagery. Fortunately almost all of the chosen retailers were happy to supply photography that captures the essence of their stores. Where this was not possible they allowed photo shoots at very short notice.

At the top end, it would be hard to look at 2009 without mentioning Regent Street’s National Geographic store. This is that rare beast, a store that caters for luxury shoppers, but which is accessible to all. As a design, the internal landscape is startling, whether it’s the bazaar-style café, the shipping crateturned-chiller unit in which customers can test thermal clothing, or the first floor’s map and book area. While you often hear store

designers talking about shopping journeys, National Geographic offers its customers something rather better: a voyage. It’s an environment in which a 19th-century explorer back from his travels might feel at home.

The store makes much of sustainability, something that is writ large in another new London shop: Timberland, in Westfield London, Shepherd’s Bush. From the outside this looks like a giant wooden puzzle, or perhaps an outsized version of the brand’s abstract tree logo. It’s an extraordinary piece of retail architecture which, inside, pays homage to the environment. Graphics emphasise the provenance of almost every element of the store’s interior.

Urban Outfitters’ store in Land Securities’ Cabot Circus scheme in Bristol also impresses with its green mindset. The interior has the usual flair associated with the brand, but it’s the use of natural and sustainable materials that really set this one apart.

Further afield, Sir Philip Green’s New York expedition, with the April opening of Topshop in the city, stands as the prime example of how a strong brand can cross continents and create almost exactly the same wow factor as back home.

And finally, if you were to open Stores 2009 at random, your attention would almost certainly be caught by Copenhagen’s Monki. This is a fashion store peopled by soft creatures called Monkis. It’s a value offer, but no prices are displayed and it lacks any kind of in-store navigation. Oh yes, and the Monkis are made from a cocktail of chemicals found in the “city of oil and steel”, apparently. Go figure.

It’s clear, then, that store design, even in financially ice-bound times, continues to form a major part of retailers’ armouries.

And if you don’t like a design, just wait a while. There’ll be something new in a few weeks or so.

All images from Stores 2009 Left to right: Topshop, New York; Monki, Copenhagen; Timberland, London.

To receive a copy of Stores 2009 please email jenny.mourant@landsecurities.com

Regent Street’s National Geographic store has a bazaar-style café and a shipping crate-turned-chiller unit in which customers can test thermal clothing. It’s an environment in which a 19th-century explorer back from his travels might feel at home.

Store design 13

tweet

From Twitter to the tills Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and all manner of online customer forums… British retailers are attracting more and more customers through social networking websites. Alison Clements discovers how it all works.

Domestic dramas are being played out live on Asda’s social networking site your.asda.com. Evonne Gaittens from Motherwell desperately wants gluten-free porridge for her 70-year-old celiac father, but it’s only available in three Scottish branches. David from Portsmouth can’t understand why it’s so hard to find beef burgers with no onion. Bob Burbridge from Liverpool was after a vegan food list from his local store but to no avail, until his plight was picked up on the website and the required list posted online.

British retailers have revealed a host of cutting-edge social networking initiatives this year in the hope of edging closer to their customers. Asda’s site went live this August and is now giving users access to product guides, blogs from senior staff members, customer feedback forums, a live Twitter feed and a video and photo gallery.

“Asda wanted to move with the times and show people what we were doing with more user-friendly content,” says an Asda spokesman. It’s certainly fun and accessible, with customers posting pictures of their kids asleep in trolleys, for example, or Asda publicising store appearances by Peter Andre and the launch of new George fashion ranges, all the while dealing publicly with individual customer requests. The supermarket now has 1,686 Twitter followers who receive messages such as “Bishop of Reading says Jesus would have shopped at Asda” or “We’ve peeled back banana prices to 1995 levels”.

Chris Lake, from Econsultancy.com, is a digital marketing specialist. He applauds retailers for embracing the new technology, but hopes it will be used for “two-way conversations”, not just for pushing marketing messages, or replicating the content of email and direct mail marketing campaigns. “Social networks should be viewed as engagement

platforms, as a means of listening to what customers are saying, and responding appropriately,” he says.

Mobile phone retailers love the idea of using online forums as a means of gauging customer opinions and solving service problems as quickly as they can. Carphone Warehouse now posts customer complaints on its website for all to see, with CEO Charles Dunstone extolling the virtues of transparency in the business. This summer Phones4U went live with www.theubar. com, an online forum with real-time customer dialogue which they use to gather feedback on their products and services, and to teach customers how to use their phone hardware and software.

Social networking is a growing phenomenon in fashion retail, too. Burberry, for example, recently launched www.artofthetrench.com in a bid to strengthen customer relationships, and now has over 690,000 fans on Facebook, so is keen to tap into this consumer interest more directly.

“These might not even be customers yet,” says Chief Executive Angela Ahrendts. “Or they may be a customer for a bottle of fragrance or for eyewear. But these are the customers who need the brand experience, who need to feel the brand. That word-ofmouth spreads through their social networks and continues to be a positive conversation [about Burberry]. That is so powerful.”

Mobile internet applications take the relationship a stage further, offering signed-up customers the chance to browse and shop on the move from their smart phones. In June, high street favourite Oasis, for example, launched a mobile shopping application in conjunction with Apple’s iPhone.

Few retailers can afford to ignore these developments in mobile technology, and the potential power of marketing through Facebook, Twitter and the like. But customer service

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experts sound a note of caution. “Using social media for ongoing interaction with customers is fantastic, but the store experience must follow through or all the effort has been wasted,” says Simon Boydell, Marketing Manager at customer service experts Retail Eyes. “Carefully nurtured brand allegiance can all be ripped apart instantly by someone going into a store and receiving bad service.”

Asda’s social networking website has customers posting pictures of their kids asleep in trolleys, for example, or Asda publicising store appearances by Peter Andre and the launch of new George fashion ranges.

Boydell also argues that discount alerts sent by text or customer service updates Tweeted from a distant CEO will never carry the weight of helpful advice and product knowledge received face-to-face in store. “Assistants in the O2 shop, for example, who guide you to the most suitable phone then become the embodiment of the O2 brand,” he says. “You’ll return to a specific shop because of the great service someone gave you. And the more mainstream online shopping becomes, the more important it will be for the bricks and mortar retailers to get their customer service right.”

Hard evidence of sales being boosted by marketing Tweets or social networks has yet to emerge, but it’s clear that social media can only ever be part of the wider picture in retail brandbuilding and customer engagement. As one wise Twitter user recently said: “Embarking on a social media strategy to help with marketing is like embarking on a facial muscle strategy to help with smiling.”

Keep them sweet with Tweets Here are the kinds of messages that retailers are sending out to their customers.

Topshop Like the Christopher Kane dress Alexa Chung wore on her MTV show last night? http://bit.ly/178Zvc You can get it here http://bit.ly/YFq3J Selfridges Heads up to Manchester beauty queens, Dolce & Gabbana make-up now available at Trafford as of this week!

The Conran Shop The Conran Shop invites you to the ‘New Philippe Starck’s Parrot Zikmu’ launch at our Chelsea store tomorrow 6pm-8pm. RSVP@conran.com Office Hark back to days gone by and revisit the 40s with an Office twist! http://bit.ly/Hk0w7 Debenhams We’re donating 20 per cent of the sale of selected Blue Zoo products to children’s charities – see them here http://bit.ly/tXT1R Asda From today you can book a winter flu jab in an Asda in-store pharmacy for just £8: http://bit.ly/3i3Ib Superdry Have you seen Superdry’s new Facebook album? Famous Fans of Superdry – check it out! http://bit.ly/7ASBd ASOS We’re loving French Connection’s fab frocks – perfect for party season: http://bit.ly/fabfrocks Spot the 4 exclusiveto-ASOS designs...

Retailers network online 15

Land Securities are introducing new lease agreements, under their Clearlet scheme, designed to simplify the entire leasing process. Nigel Billen finds out how it works.

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The average tenancy agreement is never likely to read like the latest Harry Potter novel, but don’t tell that to Clive Ashcroft, Head of Legal Services at Land Securities. He is a man with a mission – to make Land Securities’ retail leases as near to child’s play as humanly possible.

“We did jokingly suggest all our contracts should be understandable by the seven-year-old son of one of the partners of the law firms we use,” says Ashcroft, describing how the company’s Clearlet scheme has evolved. “We may not quite have achieved that, but a 15-year-old could certainly understand them.”

Ashcroft, who has worked at Land Securities “man and boy” for 27 years, stresses that Clearlet is “evolutionary rather than revolutionary”. Land Securities has worked on plain-English versions of legal documents before and has always been innovative. 15 years ago, for example, the company was the first to offer tenants a 25-page lease. Nevertheless, the difference Clearlet is making is already being noticed. “Leases used to go back and forth endlessly between us and the clients or their lawyers,” Ashcroft adds. “We might end up with 10 pages of amendments. Now that’s all gone.”

The starting point for the project was the company’s retail warehouse portfolio. “There was no reason leases on individual units on an estate should be 70-odd pages long and take weeks to negotiate,” he says. “Then we thought: If we can make it work there, why not for our shopping centres as well?”

The new leases are far shorter and outlaw legal jargon such as “pursuant to” and “thereon” in favour of the everyday language of “you, me and us”. But getting the language right was only part of the battle. Ashcroft worked closely with the company’s outside legal advisors (Dundas & Wilson, Nabarro and Eversheds) to come up with a lease that would meet all parties’ needs. “I have to credit Belinda Solomon of Nabarro who produced the first version of the Clearlet lease,” he says. “I challenged her to come up with something, then we fought over it hammer and tongs.

She played the tenant and I played the landlord. That’s how we got down to the issues that really mattered to our occupiers.”

To ensure that he was getting a genuine occupier perspective, Ashcroft also drew on feedback from Land Securities’ forum of retailers. Some of the biggest trading names in the UK, including River Island, H&M, Arcadia, Nando’s and Carluccio’s, who were all invited to contribute, as were major department stores such as Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

Ashcroft calls the result a “customer-focussed approach to sharing the risk and responsibility” of entering into a lease.

It’s not that Land Securities has gone soft, but it is trying to make sure it understands its customers’ needs. “One of the things we have introduced with Clearlet is the option of monthly rents as standard. The cashflow benefit to our occupiers of monthly rental payments often outweighs the additional cost and risk to us so we are improving the efficiency of the relationship.”

Land Securities has also challenged itself to meet clients’ needs in other respects. If, for example, Land Securities doesn’t respond to tenants’ applications (change of use, assignment under letting etc) within a set timeframe, it now grants “deemed consent”.

“It is a huge step for a landlord to make,” says Ashcroft. “But we believe our systems are robust enough to make it work.”

Equally, the leases themselves are “code compliant”. For example, they meet the terms of the Commercial Landlords’ Accreditation Scheme. “We took the attitude: okay, we have signed up to these codes, now let’s live them.”

Clearlet is not intended primarily to drive the market, but in challenging times it certainly won’t do any harm.

“We want someone new from Europe, for example, to come to us first,” Ashcroft says. “A very short document that their lawyers understand reduces the risk to them, and, we become the landlord who is actively supporting and delivering new brands, which is fantastic.”

Allan Wernham, a partner at Dundas & Wilson who has been closely involved, is a strong supporter. “Coming up with a scheme that is more tenant-friendly from the outset should help get deals done and rent committed more quickly and easily,” he says. “That allows us to play a part in Land Securities’ efforts to build positive relationships with retailers and to stand out from the competition.”

Indeed, the next stage is to put together a forum of the legal firms working for retailers to explain to them the benefits of a simpler lease. “We do want lawyers to buy into this,” says Ashcroft. And there’s good reason to do so: “If lawyers can make quicker decisions, that means they make more money.”

For Ashcroft, however, something else matters even more.

“Land Securities has always been an honourable company and honouring customer focus is now at the very heart of everything we do on the legal side of the business.”

Clive Ashcroft Head of Legal Services

Tenancies 17

Who says the recession has been all bad news? Richard Akers, MD of Retail at Land Securities, believes that meeting economic challenges head on can lead to improvements in environmental sustainability, rent reform and investment in future shopping centres.

Challenging. That’s the word that most sums up how the market has been since the last issue of A1 came out in the early summer.

That’s not to say it’s just the market that has been challenging for us and our customers during that time. No, it goes further than that. Convention has been challenged. Established ways of working have been challenged. Relationships, traditions…

I have never known a time when we and our various consultants, partners and customers have been so open to change and innovation.

What I hadn’t anticipated is how positive a downturn can be. I know I’ll be accused of finding a silver lining in all of this, but I am convinced the downturn has presented us with some real opportunities that will transform our business over the coming years.

I’ll give you two fairly well publicised examples.

The first is something we spent a lot of time discussing in the last issue: rent reform in the shape of monthly rent payments and the subsequent work we did concerning service-charge reform and the creation of our 10-point plan. Work has continued in this area. We’ve really challenged ourselves to maintain momentum.

The second is the area of environmental sustainability. We were concerned that the environmental agenda might be forced into the background in more austere times, but in fact we’ve witnessed the contrary: it has just highlighted the fact that sustainability is not a bolt-on; it is part of everything we do. Weaving sustainability into existing practices such as cost control, store development, buying and recruitment means we are able to support retailers in a much more standardised way. It makes all of our efforts more effective. The sustainability guide attached to this magazine is evidence of the progress we are making.

There’s been a real thirst amongst our customers for information. They want to know about the

10-point plan; how we can save them money; how we can help them achieve their sustainability objectives; how we can bring them together with their competitors to achieve synergies. In the position we occupy as property partner we have become a real facilitator of change. It’s a role that demands a lot, and I’m delighted to say that the team has really stepped up. The feedback I’m getting from our customers tells me we’re doing a great job.

So what’s next? Where should we expect Land Securities to concentrate its energies? What’s the next target of change and reform?

I actually have two targets at the moment. I’m a little worried about the first – our lease structure – as I think I might be opening up a Pandora’s Box. But I think it’s a dysfunction in our industry that needs to be addressed. We’ve made some enormous progress in this area recently thanks to Clearlet [see page 16 for more information], but I think we can still go a lot further. I may be flirting with controversy, but I believe that upward-only rent reviews and security of tenure provision create a dysfunction that we and our retail customers could well do without.

Rent reviews are damaging in many ways.

Not just because retailers don’t like them, but also because objectives can become muddled.

Too often the imperative in the lead-up to rent reviews is to create evidence and this can be at the expense of tenant mix and the long-term attractiveness of a centre to its catchment.

But if we do away with upward-only rent reviews and move to a turnover rent model, then we also have to do away with the security of tenure provision of the Landlord and Tenant Act. That is the only way to dispense completely with rents being set based on comparable evidence. We have learnt from the experience of operating outlet centres that tenure secured by strong turnover performance focuses everyone’s minds, leading to a

far closer working relationship with occupiers and ultimately stronger asset performance. That is because all interests end up aligned and, in effect, we become a partner to our occupiers. I would welcome views on this and think it’s something we should be debating as an industry.

My second target is to consider how shoppingcentre developments will come about in the future.

How can we deliver schemes like Cardiff, Bristol or Birmingham? How can we deliver schemes that are matched perfectly to the needs and existing fabric of the cities they occupy, but which require huge risk capital to make them happen? (Risk capital that would be difficult to raise in the current market.)

Do we have to wait for a recovery? Will there ever be a return to a market such as the one we saw over the last 10 years or so? Or is there another way?

We’re looking at Tax Increment Financing very carefully [See sidebar for more info], but it strikes us that this kind of approach – where in effect you are spending public money, albeit public money that hasn’t yet been received – calls for extremely high principles.

We’re wondering how our industry will respond to this challenge. How can we ensure that this vehicle isn’t abused? After all, it could be used as another way to drive returns from low-cost capital without considering the wider community benefits.

If we are handed this responsibility then I am confident that, just as it will unlock schemes that would otherwise be unviable, and present us with great opportunity, so we will demonstrate that we can act with a level of integrity appropriate to the responsibility. I can guarantee that the team at Land Securities with experience of working in partnership with local authorities since 1946 will ensure that every decision and action is in the best interests of all, and that schemes delivered in this way are the catalysts of further change and development.

(Just as we have achieved in Exeter, Bristol and many other cities.)

This responsibility for investment of other people’s money is something we are used to.

Thanks to our experience of the service-charge reform, it’s an area where the integrity of our team will best position us for the future.

What is a TIF? • TIF stands for Tax Increment Financing.

• A TIF allows the part financing of a development through the issue of a bond secured against the tax ‘gain’ (from increased business rates) that will be created by the completed development.

• TIFs have been used as a way of financing urban regeneration and community development projects in the US since they were invented in California in 1952.

• You can read more about the potential application of TIFs in the UK on the British Property Federation website (http://snipurl.com/svbva).

If you wish to discuss any of the items mentioned in this article please contact me by email at richard.akers@landsecurities.com

Richard Akers Managing Director, Retail

Portfolio 19

Wales’s finest new shopping centre, St David’s Dewi Sant, opened in Cardiff in late October. Guy Richards witnessed the carnival atmosphere that accompanied it.

Open for business

Ten years of planning and three years of construction all came to fruition at 10.30am on 22 October when the new St David’s Dewi Sant shopping centre opened for business in Cardiff. As the assembled throng of retailers, local dignitaries and media called out the final stage of the countdown, retail staff braced themselves for the first wave of shoppers due to pour in when the main doors were flung open.

By 10.35am both floors of this flagship development were teeming with people keen to sample the wares of the 50 or so retailers quick to take up residence. Particularly those new to Cardiff or Wales, such as Apple, LK Bennett, Crabtree & Evelyn, Cult, Karen Millen, Pret A Manger, Radley, and Yo! Sushi.

Shoppers were also treated to a five-girl aerial fashion show and ballerinas on stilts posing for photos. Individual shops staged their own celebrations, too.

The staff at the Apple Store, for example, whooped and cheered the first thousand customers through their doors, offering each one a free T-shirt.

It was a day of positive messages from every quarter. “The prime location of St David’s Dewi Sant has rejuvenated this sector of the city,” said Henry Enos, senior lecturer at Glamorgan University, who specialises in consumer behaviour. “It’s ideally suited to meet the needs of Cardiff’s consumers.”

St David’s Dewi Sant, Cardiff 21

The Land Securities Retail competition

“Cardiff is now in the top 10 retail destinations in the UK. That’s the difference this new centre is making to the city.”

Never knowingly undersold It looks amazing from the outside.

But things really start to get interesting once you step inside John Lewis’s new Cardiff store.

Berthed like a great, glass luxury liner, its glazed prow pointing proudly towards Cardiff’s café quarter, the new John Lewis store is stunning, both thanks to its architecture and its size. It’s John Lewis’s first store in Wales and, with a floor space of 280,000 square feet, its largest outside London.

The architects were Benoy. Their idea was to create two huge boxes meeting at angles so that every

aspect of the shop had great visual impact. “The building is designed to complement, but stand out from, the design of St David’s Dewi Sant, which echoes Cardiff’s Victorian shopping arcades,” says Dino Marcangelo, Business Manager New Shops at John Lewis.

But it’s once you step inside the huge store that the scope of this magnificent retail project becomes apparent. The ‘prow’ – a triangular, glazed space spanning the shop’s four floors – initially draws shoppers into the beauty hall on the ground level, and opens up three stories of ceiling space above the Espresso Bar.

Here, shoppers’ eyes are drawn to what’s known as the ‘shimmer sculpture’. “It’s a cascade of beads which mirrors the triangular shape of the Prow’s apex and catches the sunlight from its large windows,” Marcangelo explains.

Much of the glazing of the windows is printed with a frit pattern designed by Fusion Glass Ltd and inspired by traditional Welsh tapestries. “This not only provides visual impact, it also reduces sun glare,” says Marcangelo. “This improves the building’s energy efficiency and gives a more comfortable shopping experience.”

The idea is that customers are led naturally from one department of the store to the next. On the ground floor is the beauty hall; the first floor features accessories, fashion, haberdashery and fabrics; the second floor is given over to homes and interiors; the third to nursery, toys, sportswear and children’s clothing. “Designed with ‘kid appeal’, this floor contains lifesize Harry Potter and Star Wars Lego models, plus a child-friendly shoe display,” Marcangelo says.

In an effort to boost its fashion offer, John Lewis appointed store designers Dalziel & Pow to create a

luxury look for the store’s fashion department. Everywhere you look there are subtle designs aimed at making the whole shopper experience more pleasant: the mannequins, for example, with their metal frames. Or the counters, jewellery trees and chandeliers in the jewellery department. Or the luxury finish in what’s known as the “fashion advisory room”.

John Lewis feel its new store is so impressive that it has been entered for the Retail Week store design of the year award.

The development has been good news for local job-seekers too, particularly in these straitened times, by creating around 4,000 posts in retail, catering, management and security, according to Francis Salway, Chief Executive of Land Securities.

It’s also come as a welcome boost for the city. “St David’s Dewi Sant is expected to attract more than £250 million of new spending to Cardiff city centre each year,” said Rodney Berman, leader of Cardiff City Council. “Cardiff is now in the top 10 retail destinations in the UK. That’s the difference this new centre is making to the city.”

Even the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Wales, some of whose members were at the heart of the development, has added its blessing. Its director Cathy McLean said: “The impact of St David’s Dewi Sant on Cardiff will be immense, with retail tourists coming for the first time and, once they have sampled it, returning to partake in Cardiff’s other attractions.”

In a similar vein, Marie Fagan, General Manager of the city centre’s only five-star hotel, the Hilton, stressed how St David’s Dewi Sant would help put Cardiff on the weekend city-break map. “It will help us as a city to compete effectively with other key UK cities,” she explained. “It adds another dimension to what the city has to offer.”

Liz Mihell, Manager of the new John Lewis store, which serves as an anchor at St David’s Dewi Sant, was equally upbeat. “We had an extremely successful opening last month,” she said. “The reaction from shoppers has been outstanding and sales have exceeded expectations.”

The company said takings on the store’s first day were 20 per cent ahead of target, and while exact figures for the retailers who opened on 22 October were unavailable at the time of going to press, feedback from them has been very upbeat.

“Our first day was fantastic. We’re delighted to be in Cardiff,” said Jay Chapman, Head of Communications at Pret A Manger.

“Amazing,” was the verdict of Kate Basu-Attwood, Store Manager at LK Bennett. “We’ve had people come in from as far away as Nottingham, customers who’d normally visit our London store. First day’s takings have been on target and will be up for the week.”

Gary Thomas, Operations Director for YO! Sushi, said his restaurant had enjoyed “a fantastic reception”. “Our first day of opening has exceeded our expectations by 50 per cent.”

So it’s no surprise then that the opinions of the shoppers themselves are also wholly positive, with declarations such as “What a brilliant place” and “We love it” among the most common reactions from the 50,000 people estimated to have passed through the centre’s doors in the first three hours on that first Thursday.

With more than 30 million visitors expected every year once the centre is fully established, it looks as if many more shoppers will be bowled over by this new Welsh retail destination.

Win £500 to spend at John Lewis

The Question: In what year did the first John Lewis store open?

Simply answer the question above to have the chance to win £500 of John Lewis vouchers.

Please e-mail answers to: A1@landsecurities.com by Friday 29th January 2010. Entrants must be aged 18 or over. UK residents only. Employees of Land Securities and Alma Media International and/or their families are not permitted to enter. Land Securities’ decision is final. For full terms and conditions e-mail: A1@landsecurities.com

Competition 23

It’s all about teamwork o

As opening day approaches, things get hectic for the management team at the new St David’s Dewi Sant centre in Cardiff. Guy Richards finds out how the director and his team cope.

If you’ve ever seen one of those plate-spinning acts on TV or at the circus – where the performer has to balance plates on top of thin wooden poles – then you’ll have some idea of what’s gone into preparing for the opening of the St David’s Dewi Sant centre in Cardiff. Only, in this case, there are hundreds of plates and a whole team of performers spinning them.

As the centre’s director Steven Madeley explained: “Each member of the management team not only knows whose responsibilities are whose, but also has a good general overview of the business, so they’re able to deal with queries outside

“Carrying over the management team from the original St David’s has been a major plus point for us.The in-house experience we’ve been able to bring has gone a long way.” of their remit.” That’s a useful – arguably essential – facility to have in a team of managers who, in this context, are individually responsible for security and cleaning, marketing, commercialisation, and retailer liaison.

By the time you read this magazine, the centre will have opened for business. But at the time of writing, opening day, October 22, was a little way off, meaning that Madeley and his team still had a host of issues to manage. “The centre is still a building site at the moment, so there’s the construction side of

things to keep tabs on,” he said. “At the same time, we have loads of the retailers coming in to set up – and of course each one thinks they’re the only one in the building.

“And of course we’re in the process of building up our own security and cleaning teams, about 100 people in all. The security people, for example, need training in customer service and using our CCTV systems.”

The project’s schedule left very little room for error. Madeley said there was a gap of only a few hours between the builders leaving the site and the shoppers swarming in. So, unsurprisingly, ask him what his priorities were and this is the response you get: “They’re all priorities!”

Things were moving so fast in the run-up to the opening, he said, that the main challenge was keeping everyone up to date on progress. A key part of his working week were the many progress meetings, checking what was on track and what wasn’t.

“There’s a kind of ‘steering wheel’ approach to this,” he said, “where you go round every aspect of the project in turn to make sure all the lights are still on green, so to speak.”

It’s natural to assume that much of the complexity in the St David’s Dewi Sant project was down to the sheer size of the development: 160 stores and 23 restaurants and cafés. Not so, according to Madeley. Every issue he has had to manage would still hold true for a smaller development; the issues were just more involved at St David’s Dewi Sant.

“At the moment though it’s fantastic,” he said. “I get a real kick out of going on site and seeing how things are progressing from

Steven Madeley Centre Director

one day to the next. There’s always something new to see.”

So with that permanent buzz, as the centre grew closer to completion, was he worried about any post-opening sense of anti-climax? “It’s true that the daily operation will in a sense become pretty routine,” he said. “People will come in, work and shop, then go back home. The challenges change once we are open – still a lot of work but more focused on the trading retailers and our customers.”

St David’s Dewi Sant is unusual in that it’s a huge extension – 967,000 sq ft – to an existing centre, of which Madeley was also the director. But this of course has enabled Madeley and his team, many of whom also worked at the original St David’s, to bring their expertise across with them.

“Carrying over the management team from the original St David’s has been a major plus point for us,” he said. “The in-house experience we’ve been able to bring has gone a long way.”

This team ethic extends to national level at Land Securities.

Madeley talked of the extended centre team, composed of staff from Land Securities’ London HQ, as well as experts from other centres around the UK, all of whom have regularly visited Cardiff to share their experience. The idea was to cross-fertilise their knowledge with local knowledge.

There’s nothing unusual in this, Madeley said. In fact the St David’s Dewi Sant team itself attended the opening of the Cabot Circus centre in Bristol in September 2008 to gain an insight into the kind of issues they would face in Cardiff on 22 October.

The great thing about teamwork is that you’re never alone.

St David’s Dewi Sant, Cardiff 25

Come to Britain We could soon see a number of exciting foreign retailers in the UK thanks to a new Land Securities venture called Brand Empire. Alison Clements finds out how it works.

From Aldo to Zara, from Abercrombie & Fitch to Uniqlo, new brands launching into the UK market have always managed to spark fresh interest in our shopping centres. Shoppers love the exoticism of an unfamiliar brand while domestic retailers benefit from increased footfall and sales when names such as Banana Republic or Urban Outfitters set up shop nearby.

But are we doing enough to encourage international brands into the country? And when they do come, are they settling into the most appropriate centres and reaching the right audiences?

Land Securities feels there are a number of exciting brands in affluent countries like Brazil, Australia, Russia and Japan that would be a real hit with the British public. The trouble is, when entering the UK market, they need a helping hand.

For this very reason Land Securities has established a new company called Brand Empire whose job is to identify international retail brands, advise on demographics and suitable locations across the UK, and help with store openings through a partnership approach. “We’ve looked closely at the barriers to entry into the UK,” says Ronan Faherty, Commercial Director at Land Securities. “We have valuable knowledge to offer brands that are big in their part of the world, but unfamiliar with this market.

We were planning this venture long before the credit crunch.

It’s very much a long-term strategy.”

Incoming companies often lack local knowledge. They will also need insights into leasing, and guidance on how to secure space.

Faherty stresses that Brand Empire will benefit the entire British shopping industry, not just Land Securities’ retail portfolio. “The brands we’ll be dealing with will want to consider opening right across the country, so this needs to be all-inclusive,” he says.

“We are already talking to other shopping-centre owners and developers about how the initiative can help them too.

The reaction has been very positive.”

Faherty continues ‘’For our existing retailers this is all about complementing the existing retail mix, and not competing.

New international brands will not be getting preferential treatment into the UK market, what they are really getting through a partnership approach is our expertise and knowledge.’’

Land Securities has recruited a big-hitter in international retail – Sanjay Sharma, previously an International Director at Karen Millen – to run the venture. Sharma’s role within Brand Empire is to visit cities across the world and seek out dynamic retailers with the potential to travel. “We’re interested in brands that can take on national coverage, not just open one or two stores” says Faherty.

Clearly the aim is to ensure that exciting new fashion, footwear and cosmetics brands start off in the right locations.

In the UK, German fashion discounter Takko, for example, would have a very different target audience to that of upmarket US lifestyle retailer Anthropologie. Advice on how to market in different parts of the UK, and inside knowledge about which schemes offer the most complementary mix of retailers will help brands gain a solid foothold here.

Matthew Brown is head of research at Echochamber, specialists in global retail trend-spotting. He believes Brand Empire could inject much needed energy and originality into UK shopping districts. “On the global stage the UK is pretty innovative, but there’s never room for complacency because British shoppers are always looking for something novel,” he says.

“The cutting-edge brands we are seeing overseas have the potential to deliver that desired vitality, bringing with them innovative ideas for store design and merchandising, even a fresh approach to customer service. This initiative to welcome others into the market is to be applauded.”

There are countless inspiring retail formats in different corners of the world, and, according to Faherty, these will give British shopping centres a more competitive edge. “The timing is particularly good now as the recession has been a catalyst for creativity in retail,” he says.

He hopes the first few names taken on by Brand Empire will be opening their doors to the public starting in the new year.

Land Securities feels there are a number of exciting brands in affluent countries like Brazil, Australia, Russia and Japan that would be a real hit with the British public.

Ronan Faherty

Sanjay Sharma

Commercial Director

Chief Executive Brand Empire

International retailers 27

11.30am

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.30am First stop is a ne w retailer meetin g at our new scheme, One N ew Change, in th e City of London I try to get to al . l these meetings to see how retaile are feeling abou rs t trade in London . This time it is accessories reta an iler who also wa nts a unit at Ca Place, in Victoria rdinal , another of our London schemes Glad I went alon . g.

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Back over the Millennium Brid ge and through Churchyard to St Paul’s New Street Sq uare. I grab a la Natural Kitche te sa ndwich at n. It is quiet at this time of th but the manag e afternoon, er seems more than happy with store. I suppose the new the 5,000 lawye rs and insolven accountants ar cy e busy working in their offices my emails and . Then I check see I have a leas e to sign for a gone for an in café. We have dependent rath er than a chain. I was the right de feel sure it cision and the shop fit-out lo oks great.

6am

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Quick stroll ov er the Millenni um Bridge to Ba our scheme be nkside Mix, hind the Tate M odern. I meet th an Italian restau e manager of rant who’s laun ching a new m had a hard tim enu. He has e over the last year but is alre increase in sale ad y seeing an s after our ‘Gre at British Sum campaign which m er ’ marketing televised the As hes and Wimbl huge screen m edon on a ounted on the side of a carava Afterwards I lo n. ok at the vaca nt units we ha Filling one won ve there. ’t be a problem as it overlooks extension of th the planned e Tate Modern.

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5pm

ad out laptop and he e, I pack my fic of ring the e de th an in w Back ten spend of I gs in g en ev arden, lookin again. Friday nd Covent G ou ar ly al e ci see th streets, espe s. I wanted to retail fascia OS on Long C d an at any new ls f Seven Dia of st et, ju it un n Oxford Stre Superdry the bus dow on p m w ju ne e en th Acre. I th ies unit with Land Securit spotting the t. ea gr which looks opposite Currys refit, Park House, at te si r ou ss pa n see en ca th I I of the bus om the top Fr s. rcus. ge ci id ng lfr ti Se marke 500 with its ket; ar m an the giant Fiat m be a Ger ill w is th ain. as on the site ag For Christm start working n d ca an e s w bu at e g off th after th mplate gettin ake te w on to I c t k an ar w At Prim t but don’t ir sh n iro nno looking for a me. ping beside ee sl p m lu the

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7pm I’m on the train an d at my emails for an hour before dr iving home across the Oxfordshire fie lds as the sun goes down. I migh t go into Oxford tomorrow for a bit of retail therapy.

Haven’t been shop ping for a while.

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The work-shop balance 29

“Since the start of this year we’ve done nearly 500 individual lettings and lease renewals. That’s around 150 every three months.”

Ashley Blake is upbeat about Land Securities’ retail portfolio, the sector he directs. He joined the company at the start of this year, but already he and his team have made great strides. All this despite the worst economic downturn in living memory.

So what’s the secret to their success? Here they discuss five key areas where they believe they’ve been most effective.

The retail therapists What are the burning issues for the team in charge of retail at Land Securities’ key shopping centres?

Five of the top asset managers explain.

1 Tackling retail voids With huge retailers such as Woolworths and Zavvi going under, looming gaps have appeared in British high streets and shopping centres. Land Securities have been quick to fill these gaps.

Ailish Christian, Portfolio Director South, points to the Land Securities centres at Corby, Lewisham and Stratford as good examples of where the retailer turnaround has been lightning quick.

“Within a couple of months of the demise of Woolworths, all three were trading with new retailers,” she says. Corby, for example, took on Au Naturel and Ethel Austin, while Lewisham welcomed H&M, and Stratford saw a new 99p Stores open up – now one of their top performing stores in the UK. There were Zavvi stores in Liverpool’s Clayton Square, Portsmouth’s Gunwharf Quays, Exeter’s Princesshay and Bristol’s Cabot Circus. Osprey and HMV have filled two of them, and the other two are close to finalising deals.

“Filling voids is crucial for us,” says Ashley.

“If a big frontage goes dark, as we say in the business, that can really suck the life out of a whole shopping centre.”

2 Shopper profiling Land Securities have devised an effective way of dividing their tenants’ customers into different groups, according to the way they shop. With help from several retail research companies they have identified five key groups of shoppers: no frills cost-cutters, sensible quality-seekers, complex cosmopolitans, aspiring spenders and designer junkies.

The strongest assets Land Securities’ Retail Portfolio Management team oversees the company’s shopping centres, factory outlets high street shops and hotels. But who are the faces behind the names?

Ashley Blake Head of Retail Portfolio Management Responsible for 23 shopping centres, four designer outlets, three retail blocks and a team of 23 asset managers and support staff. In all that’s 11.8 million square feet of property worth £2.6 billion.

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“We use this to target which tenants we want to attract,” explains Deepan Khiroya, Portfolio Director Factory Outlet Centres. “We work out which kind of shoppers are in our catchment areas and we target retailers accordingly.”

Ashley stresses how useful this shopper profiling can be. “It means we can provide shops that the local population really want,” he says. “We may discover we have too many fast-fashion outlets in a particular centre, for example, when in fact what we really need is more sensible style retailers.”

Shopper profiling has also helped Land Securities target their advertising more effectively. In Sunderland, for example, the company realised that one single TV network, Tyne Tees, covered the exact region they needed to market to. They found they could afford to launch a very inexpensive TV campaign and target their customers precisely. “You simply couldn’t do that in for Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth,” Ashley adds, “because you’d have to cover three or four different TV regions, which would be much too expensive.”

3 Direct engagement with retailers “All of us in the retail team have close relationships with our retailers,” explains Suzi Clay, Portfolio Director Major Joint Ventures. “We have regular face-to-face meetings with them and nurture those relationships.”

Suzi used to work in retail herself, at B&Q, so she can assess the situation from both the tenant’s and the landlord’s point of view. According to Ashley, it’s this personal touch that keeps the relationships strong. “It’s not that we’re going soft on our retailers,” he says. “But we understand we must constantly engage with them, and work with them, particularly if they have issues we can solve.”

To understand retailers better, Land Securities have even been shadowing them at work. Ailish, for example, spent a day on the shop floor at House of Fraser. Ashley shadowed the operations director at John Lewis in Watford for a day. Others from the department have spent time at Next on London’s Oxford Street. “It’s all about creating long-term relationships,” stresses Ashley. “If we just take the hard, old-fashioned landlord approach, we’ll end up with more voids and no repeat business.”

Ailish Christian Portfolio Director, South Responsible for the centres in Stratford, Lewisham, Welwyn Garden City, Islington, Clapham, Wandsworth, Shepherd’s Bush, Notting Hill Gate, Corby, Worcester, Cambridge and Salisbury.

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Suzi Clay Portfolio Director, Major Joint Ventures Responsible for centres in Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Taplow and Birmingham, most of which feature partnerships.

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4 Repositioning and refurbishing Land Securities are in the fortunate position of having what Ashley describes as a “very well capitalised business”. “We have a fantastic balance sheet and can afford refurb spend to improve our centres. When we buy a centre, we have a business plan and equity ready to improve that centre.

That doesn’t just mean entrances and flooring.

We may also add new space, help tenants expand, or reconfigure centres to allow new tenants to come in. Shopping centres are live assets and they have to be constantly upgraded.”

Aberdeen’s Bon Accord Quarter is a good example of this. Thanks to Land Securities’ upgrade of the St Nicholas shopping centre, as well as Hammerson’s Union Square, much of the Scottish city is now benefitting from a facelift. “At St Nicholas we’ve now built quite a fashion hub,” says Ashley. “There’s Topshop Topman, River Island, Kurt Geiger, Phase Eight, Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse, Coast and the biggest Next in Scotland. These are all massive footfall generators.”

Other centres to benefit from refurbishment include London’s Lewisham Centre, Livingston’s The Centre and Bristol’s Cabot Circus.

5 Creating destinations Adventure golf at Cabot Circus, surfing and bowling at Gunwharf Quays, laser-gun games at Corby… shopping centres all over the UK are now offering much more than simple shopping. There are cinemas, casinos, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, ice rinks – all encouraging shoppers to spend more time, and of course more money.

Restaurants and cafes are a good example.

“Catering increases the dwell time of shoppers and ensures they stay at the centre beyond lunchtime and into the afternoon,” explains Deepan. Evening leisure facilities also help drive trade, even if they operate long after most of the shops have shut. “At night you get people coming to the centre for the cinema or a restaurant,” explains Ashley. “They may never have been there before to shop. Then they think ‘Maybe I’ll come back during the day and check it out’. It’s all about ensuring our shopping centres are attractive destinations in their own right.”

Gerald Jennings Portfolio Director, North and Scotland Responsible for centres in Sunderland and York, three centres in Leeds, and two in Liverpool.

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Deepan Khiroya Portfolio Director, Factory Outlet Centres Responsible for factory outlets in Portsmouth, Hatfield, Livingston, as well as Accor and Novotel hotels.

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Katherine Armstead Portfolio Manager, Scotland Responsible for centres in Livingston, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

The retail management team 31

Arts in the city It could end up being the country’s largest work of art. There are plans for the hoarding along one section of the construction site at Leeds’ new shopping centre, TrinityLeeds, to feature an industrial-size scroll of paper, hundreds of metres long, onto which artists both professional and amateur will be encouraged to express themselves. Although council permission hasn’t yet been granted, it’s hoped the hoarding on Leeds’s Albion Street, along one boundary of Land Securities’ new one million sq ft retail and leisure development, will be adorned with a blank, rolling canvas.

Artists and community groups would be invited to decorate the scroll of paper as they see fit.

“Working with leading art directors Six (www.madebysix.com), we would invite artists to come and be part of the UK’s largest piece of art,” explains Claire Reynolds, of TrinityLeeds marketing team. “They could range from well-known artists, or local artists in and around Leeds, to community groups, universities and schools. Ultimately we’re looking to engage with the community, re-invigorate Albion Street and turn it into a destination in its own right.”

TrinityLeeds is due to open for business in 2012.

Corporate social responsibility 33

Shopping Centres

Retail Parks

Location

Property name

Area sq m (sq ft)

Principal contact

Phone number

Location

Property name

Area sq m (sq ft)

Principal contact

Phone number

Aberdeen

Bon Accord/St Nicholas

47,844 (515,000)

Katherine Armstead

0141 331 4409

Bexhill-On-Sea

Birmingham

Priory Square

26,013 (279,900)

Charles Clarke

020 7747 2318

Blackpool

Blackpool Retail Park

12,782 (137,583)

Jack Busby

020 7024 5487

Bristol

Cabot Circus

135,000 (1,453,000)

Rob Callaghan

029 7024 5414

Bracknell

The Peel Centre

15,384 (165,592)

Nick Duffield

020 7024 5485

Cambridge

Christ’s Lane*

7,282 (78,350)

Andrew Rawlings

020 7747 2336

Chadwell Heath

Goodmayes Retail Park

9,230 (99,000)

Jack Busby

020 7024 5487

Cardiff

St David’s Shopping Centre

39,735 (427,000)

Rob Callaghan

020 7024 5414

Chester

Greyhound Retail Park

18,859 (203,000)

Hermione Mackrill

020 7024 5486

Corby

Town Centre/Willow Place

68,740 (740,000)

Andrew Rawlings

020 7747 2336

Chesterfield

Ravenside Retail Park

9,615 (103,500)

Nick Duffield

020 7024 5485

Exeter

Princesshay

49,256 (530,000)

Lucy Lilley

020 7024 5488

Derby

Meteor Centre

16,920 (182,130)

Jack Busby

020 7024 5487

Glasgow

Buchanan Galleries

57,600 (620,000)

Katherine Armstead

0141 331 4409

Dundee

Kingsway Retail Park

27,768 (298,900)

Jack Busby

020 7024 5487

Leeds

Leeds Shopping Plaza

53,670 (557,500)

Jonathan Buckle

0113 261 5363

Gateshead

Team Valley Retail World

35,083 (377,650)

Nick Duffield

020 7024 5485

Leeds

White Rose

63,170 (680,000)

James Larmuth

0113 386 2177

Livingston

Almondvale Retail, South&West

35,284 (379,800)

Nick Duffield

020 7024 5485

Liverpool

Clayton Square

6,553 (180,000)

James Larmuth

0113 386 2177

Milford Haven

Havenshead Retail Park

6,910 (74,389)

Jack Busby

020 7024 5487

Liverpool

St Johns Centre

33,450 (360,000)

James Larmuth

0113 386 2177

Northampton

Nene Valley Retail Park

13,657 (147,000)

Hermione Mackrill

020 7024 5486

Livingston

The Centre

88,720 (950,000)

Katherine Armstead

0141 331 4409

Poole

Commerce Centre

19,328 (208,011)

Nick Duffield

020 7024 5485

London

Shopstop, Clapham

4,170 (44,884)

Ailish Christian

020 7024 5066

Taplow

The Bishop Centre

12,810 (137,895)

Charles Clarke

020 7747 2318

London

N1, Islington

13,006 (140,000)

Ailish Christian

020 7024 5066

Thanet

Westwood Cross

44,129 (475,000)

Hermione Mackrill

020 7024 5486

London

Lewisham Centre

34,523 (371,500)

Tom Venner

020 7024 5196

West Thurrock

Lakeside Retail Park

35,000 (376,778)

Hermione Mackrill

020 7024 5486

London

W12, Shepherds Bush

27,127 (291,900)

Andrew Rawlings

020 7747 2336

Workington

Derwent, Derwent Howe

13,991 (150,600)

Jack Busby

020 7024 5487

London

Stratford Shopping Centre

31,224 (336,000)

Tom Venner

020 7024 5196

London

Southside, Wandsworth

49,239 (530,000)

Ailish Christian

020 7024 5066

Salisbury

The Maltings

8,920 (96,022)

Anna-Louise Lancaster

020 7024 5411

Sunderland

The Bridges

47,840 (515,000)

Jonathan Buckle

0113 261 5363

Worcester

Cathedral Plaza

19,463 (210,000)

Andrew Rawlings

020 7747 2336

Area sq m (sq ft)

Principal contact

Phone number

Ravenside Retail & Leisure Park name 24,131 (259,750) HermionePrincipal Mackrill contact 020 7024 5486 No. Location Property Area sq m (sq ft) Phone

* Nine stores only

Outlets

Developments

Location

Property name

Area sq m (sq ft)

Principal contact

Phone number

Location

Hatfield

The Galleria

29,729 (320,000)

Deepan Khiroya

020 7024 5436

Glasgow

Livingston

Designer Outlet Centre

26,790 (288,300)

Deepan Khiroya

020 7024 5436

Leeds

Portsmouth

Gunwharf Quays

39,484 (425,000)

Deepan Khiroya

020 7024 5436

34 Retail Portfolio

Property name Buchanan Galleries Location Trinity Leeds

65,000 (700,000) Nick Davis 5203 No. Property name Area sq m (sq ft) Principal contact 020 7024 Phone 92,900 (1,000,000)

Bob De Barr

020 7024 5470

Retail Portfolio 35

Leeds’ Premier Retail Destination

1 Million Sq.Ft. 100% Prime Location In The Heart Of The City

A development by:

In association with:

www.trinityleeds.com