05 July 2013

Pradera secures two big name tenants for market gates great yarmouth

Pradera has secured two new, high profile, long lease retail tenancies at its Market Gates Shopping Centre in Great Yarmouth, East Anglia, tying in with plans for a wider refurbishment of the centre.

Europe’s specialist retail property fund manager has agreed a 15 year lease of around £70,000 p.a. with Burger King’s parent company CPL Foods Ltd, and a ten year agreement of about £80,000 p.a. with Superdrug Stores.

Superdrug Stores opened a brand new 7,377 sq. ft. outlet in May 2013 and CPL Foods Ltd will launch a 3,722 sq. ft. Burger King outlet in the centre, including a seating area in the mall’s existing food and beverage zone.

These deals represent a major coup for the town centre. In conjunction with a refurbishment project at the centre, Pradera aims to boost local employment, better the experience of visitors to the centre and increase footfall. This forms part of a wider plan to encourage place-making in the UK’s secondary shopping centres, by combining retail with leisure facilities.

The Market Gates Shopping Centre is situated in the town centre of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, currently housing over 155,000 square feet of retail space. It comprises a mix of high street and independent brands across the fashion, technology, footwear, sports and leisure, home and furniture, jewellery, stationery, food and drink and now, health and beauty sectors. With dual street access, it also incorporates a multi storey car park and the town centre bus station.

The Superdrug and Burger King announcement further strengthens its UK activities of Pradera, which recently incorporated all its retail property management activities under one executive management team, led by CEO, James Bury and Managing Director, Neil Varnham.

James comments: “We are excited to welcome Superdrug and Burger King to Market Gates and we hope that the increased footfall generated will have a beneficial impact on existing retailers’ trade. We also expect that these lettings will be the catalyst for our proposals to develop out further space as we look to continually improve the retail environment in this centre and others.

“Our asset management focused approach based on expert, local teams continues to deliver a good performance for our clients and investors and we are confident that there is a bright future for the sector, in both the UK and Europe.’’

Source: Property Week, 2013

Published in Property Week