News

HPG SECURE NEW LETTINGS ON ST JOHN'S RETAIL PARK

March 2008

The Howard Property Group (HPG) has recently secured two new tenants on its St John's Retail Park in Bedford.

DIY chain Homebase, has completed the assignment of the former Focus premises, occupying Unit 1 on the retail park. Home Retail Group plc, the UK's leading home and general merchandise retailer who owns the Homebase brand, recently completed the purchase of 27 leasehold properties from Focus DIY. The purchase price was stated by the Company to have been £40m.

The St John's unit, which was included in the purchase, was transferred in December 2007. The store has been re-fitted with the Homebase branding over recent months in readiness for the peak Spring period. The new store, occupying 36,000 sq ft, is now trading.

Maplin, the electronics retailer, has taken Unit 9 on the park, totalling 4,500 sq ft. The unit was formerly occupied by Choices. The store is currently undergoing a fit out and new fascia and is due for a grand opening in May.

Maplin is the UK's biggest and best specialist retailer of consumer electronics. Its national network of over 140 stores in the UK and Ireland are a goldmine of useful consumer technologies and gadgets. With over 14,000 different products Maplin sells everything from MP3 players and Sat Nav systems, to digital cameras and Wi-Fi connectors, across the broad categories of Sound & Vision, Computer, and Hobbies & Electronics.

Commenting on the new lettings, Michael Summers, property director at HPG, said. "We are very pleased to have secured two such high profile tenants to St John's Retail Park. They are both major retailers with well known brands that will undoubtedly increase footfall to the park."  

HPG, the owners of St John's Retail Park, own a diverse commercial property portfolio within East Anglia, the Midlands, London and the South East. The current business includes retail shopping centres, distribution warehouse space, industrial estates, offices and some residential. The Group has always maintained a healthy balance between the various segments so as to avoid over exposure to any one single sector. The property investments portfolio is segmented by value as follows:  50% retail, 38% industrial and warehousing, 7% offices and 5% mixed use and other property types. HPG manage in excess of 250 tenants who occupy over 1 million square feet of property which generates income of over £6m per annum.