Partner Article

Successful commercial regeneration for sale

Retail premises created as part of the regeneration of Bedale, North Yorkshire, have been placed on the market after successfully bringing in tenants and seeing their businesses to grow.

The units, on the site of the Bridge Street redevelopment, are up for sale, fully completed and let to existing tenants, a fast-growing retailer, Bedale Flooring, and Celebration Cake creator Jo Williams’ Cake Dreams business.

The site was redeveloped as part of regeneration work by a partnership that included Yorkshire Forward, Hambleton District Council and Harrogate-based Amicon (Europe) Ltd, the current owner of the retail units.

Amicon secured long-term tenancies from Bedale Flooring and Cake Dreams, both of which have flourished on the site.

Bedale Flooring, run by former retail sales director David Robson, was established in June 2014 and has already opened a second outlet in Northallerton, with the business about to take on its fourth member of directly-employed staff. A further five jobs are sustained by Bedale Flooring, due to fitting contracts for the company’s domestic and commercial client base.

Cake Dreams was started as a cupcake baking business from Jo Williams’ home in the nearby Yorkshire dales, before branching out into the Bridge Street premises, which have allowed her to expand, designing and baking bespoke cakes for all occasions. More recently the additional space has enabled Jo to expand the service, by offering a range of cake decorating workshops and hosting cupcake decorating parties. The company has now been approached by leading US firm Wilton for Jo to be an accredited Wilton trainer, offering certification programmes.

Property consultant Connect Property North East (CPNE) has been instructed to manage the sale. The retail property provides 260.3m2 of floor area across three units, with an asking price in the region of £400,000. The site has a long leasehold of 999 years, which started in 2010.

Peter Stanford, Managing Director of Amicon (Europe) Ltd, said: “The regeneration of this site, including other adjoining retail units and accommodation, has been a huge success for the area. David and Jo have both signed long-term leases for their businesses and have thrived from its location, just off the Market Place, building local client bases that have expanded and allowed them to diversify.

“The opportunity is now there for someone to invest in these sites, knowing that the work of getting them occupied and profitable has been done. Gross yields on the asking price are in the region of 9.6%, so it’s a great investment that will help to support the town and the tenants.

“All of the investment that has gone into this has come from Yorkshire, so it’s a real success story for the region and for Bedale.”

Jo Williams said: “Moving onto this site has allowed me to do things with my business that I previously was unable to make a reality. The additional space and location has enabled me to have an open plan kitchen where customers can see the cakes being created, opening their imaginations for their own celebration cakes. The upcoming certified training, that is recognised and recommended by one of the industry’s leading global players, will hopefully take my business from strength to strength.”

David Robson added: “What I have been able to achieve since opening here has far exceeded my expectations. Originally, I was unsure how big a market I could reach in Bedale, but it has been brilliant. We are bringing in a fourth staff member in the coming months, having already taken on an apprentice, and opened a second store, so this has proved a great place to do business.”

All enquiries regarding the sale should be directed to Andrew Wilkinson at Connect Property North East – andrew@cpne.co.uk / 01642 602001

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jonathan Simpson .