How will Tomorrow measure up?

The Tomorrow building in Media City has been designed specifically to cater for digital marketing agencies. It houses a number of innovative concepts including a new type of business centre known as Ziferblat which charges its customers by the minute. TAG has been engaged by Ziferblat’s operator to check that the floor area within its Lease from Peel Holdings is correct.

Property measurement is something dear to our hearts at TAG. It is where most lease negotiations start and end. That is why it pays to get it right. However, when the building in question has curved walls, the task suddenly takes on an added dimension, literally!

In the end, we discovered that the floor area did indeed measure up as it should have done. The lease therefore completed and Ziferblat is now up and running. Their coffee and cakes are great, by the way!

DRG appoints TAG

TAG has been appointed by the UK subsidiary of Decision Resources Group which is a North American based healthcare research and consulting company providing high-value healthcare industry analysis and insights.

DRG’s Manchester office occupies serviced offices within the Bruntwood owned Manchester One office building on Portland Street.

Due to continued growth in its headcount DRG has decided it needs a more permanent office solution that will cater for up to 60 staff.

TAG will provide a full range of professional services to assist DRG in the search, acquisition and fitting out of the new premises. DRG needs to relocate to new premises by June 2017.

Holistic moves north to Southgate

We were appointed by Holistic Estate Planning Solutions Ltd in June 2016 with an urgent brief. The company’s landlord, Royal London Mutual Insurance Society, wanted to take back the space Holisitic were occupying for its own exclusive occupation. Holistic’s lease was therefore being terminated. The pressure was on to find them a new home somewhere close to Wilmslow.

Holistic is a will-writing and estate planning advisory business that was founded in 2001 by its’ Managing Director, Paul Dodsworth. Paul was keen to find a location that was accessible by car, bike and public transport. He was also keen to move into a modern, well specified building that would offer expansion options in the future.

The solution we secured for Holistic ticks all the required boxes. The Southgate office campus at Heald Green is on a bus route and provides generous on-site car parking for both staff and visitors. The development is extremely well managed and secure. It also features an excellent specification which includes raised access floors and high quality finishes throughout.

As for the deal, here are the highlights:

• a new 5 year lease with full security of tenure
• a tenant only break option at the end of the third year without financial penalty
• a pre-emption clause giving Holistic a right of first refusal over the rest of the first floor
• a significant financial incentive converted into a fit-out undertaken by the landlord’s contractor
• a stepped rent that matches Holistic’s business plan

What could have been a major challenge has turned into a great opportunity. We wish Holistic every success in their new home which incidentally, is north of Wilmslow unlike their previous base which was just to the south.

TAG adds value at last minute

Just before it agreed terms on its new office, Millcroft Wealth Management’s legal adviser recommended that it should have the deal reviewed by an independent expert. The Tenant Advisory Group were recommended. The results demonstrated how TAG adds value to property transactions, even at a very late stage.

As an established private wealth manager, the founders of Millcroft Wealth Management know all about trust and due diligence. Afterall, it is what their clients value most about them as you can see this from the testimonials on their website (see millcroft.co.uk). So when it came to trusting that their new landlord was offering them a good deal, they decided to invest in some extra due diligence to make absolutely sure. What they discovered was that their Landlord and his agent did not necessarily have their best interests at heart.

To the untrained eye the proposed lease terms appeared reasonable. However, in reality they would have left Millcroft vulnerable to a variety of risks that could have proved expensive and potentially damaging to their business. 

Regrettably, the vast majority of commercial tenants under estimate the significance of the heads of terms document. In our experience, unless such terms are sufficiently detailed, it can be very difficult for a lawyer to protect a tenant’s interests effectively. Once lawyers have been instructed, tenants quite naturally start to invest their time and money in the relocation process. For example, they might place orders for new furniture, I-T and telecoms equipment. This explains why as you move past the heads of terms stage, Landlords tend to become increasingly intransigent when it comes to negotiating the wording of key clauses within the draft lease. They know that the longer lease negotiations drag on for the less likely it is that the Tenant is going to abort the transaction. So, they stick to their guns. This undermines your lawyer’s ability to represent your best interests and forces you to accept terms that you really ought not to.

The shortcomings we found in the heads of terms proposed to Millcroft are typical of most situations we come across where a tenant has negotiated terms without professional representation from an adviser such as ourselves. The issues that were addressed included security of tenure, service charges, break option conditions, repairing covenants, re-instatement and dilapidations liability.

After some further negotiation between ourselves and the landlord’s agent, changes were made to the heads of terms and the lease contract was drafted allowing the transaction to progress to a satisfactory completion.

The feedback we had from the client demonstrates the value that we were able to add to the process.

‘Thank you Martyn for all your help and guidance which has been really appreciated.’   Paul Mills, Director, Millcroft Wealth Management Limited.

‘We would like to thank you for the time that you have spent in negotiating the heads of terms for Oxford Court...we now feel that we can confidently progress matters.’    Adele Ravenscroft, Director, Millcroft Wealth Management Limited.