FHP ACQUIRE CONVENIENCE STORES FOR MORRISON’S IN NOTTINGHAM TOWN CENTRES

Retail News

Supermarket chain, Morrisons, has turned to a Nottingham property consultancy to help it roll out a major new venture.  FHP has been retained by Morrisons to help expand the Morrisons M local convenience stores.

Morrisons are looking for new premises across the four main counties of the East Midlands – Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.  The search for new premises is being handled by the retail and leisure department at FHP, who already act for a number of major brands, developers and investors in the retail market.

Morrison announced this year that they are looking for up to 100 new sites.  They opened two new branches in Nottingham in January which are proving to be popular with shoppers and trading well.

Frankie Labbate, surveyor at FHP’s retail and leisure team commented:

“Morrisons’ expansion programme represents a significant opportunity for landlords with premises which meet the supermarket chain’s requirements.  Morrisons’ entry into the convenience market is one of the most important developments in the retail market for some time. All landlords look for strong covenants and Morrisons are a top drawer occupier with significant ambition in this market.

Morrisons are looking for premises with parking in neighbourhood and local centres, on busy urban high streets close to good residential catchments.  This will include city or town centre properties which are known to enjoy high footfall and are close to busy shopping or working locations.

M local require leasehold or freehold sites which offer 3,000ft² to 6,000ft² of gross ground floor area capable of offering a net sales space of 2,000ft² to 4,000ft².  Morrison will consider new mixed use developments or redevelopment opportunities but will also look at, for example, converting pub premises or petrol filling stations.

This is an extremely valuable market opportunity. Morrisons are very well placed to succeed in the convenience store market because of the nature of their existing supermarket offer, which has a major emphasis on fresh produce.  Consumers are changing their shopping habits and there is a real opportunity for landlords to make the most of the arrival in this market of a name which is likely to perform strongly and bring real vitality to the locations it chooses”.

M local is already trading strongly in the locations it has opened in so far and we can expect it to become a major player in the convenience sector going forwards.

For further information with respect to M Local’s convenience store requirement, please contact Frankie Labbate of FHP Property Consultants on 07917 576 251 or frankie@fhp.co.uk.