Last month, Co-op retail division chief executive Steve Murrells announced that the food business plans to open more than 100 new convenience stores this year. This is the first major lease agreement that the business has secured since that announcement.
The Co-operative Group is building its pipeline to enable the opening of 150 food stores per year across the UK.
The properties are located throughout the UK, but with a concentration in Central, Eastern and Northern England. The majority will be new-build projects to be constructed on surplus land adjacent to the existing public houses. A smaller number of public houses will be either converted to convenience store use or redeveloped as standalone convenience retail stores, while some of the assets will be significantly expanded in size through the addition of an extension or new-build.
The lease terms are 15 years with no break clause, and an annual RPI-linked rental increase formula capped at 4% and collared at 1%. The rental income agreed varies between £15.00 per sq ft and £17.50 per sq ft.
Source: The Co-operative
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