Secure City Centre Retail Investment

3 Murraygate | Dundee | DD1 2EE

£419,000

subject to contract

SOLD

Summary

  • Prime city centre retailing pitch

  • Let to The Body Shop International Limited

  • Highly secure income – Net Assets £324 million

  • New lease from April 2020

  • Tenant has been in occupation since 2010

  • Heritable interest (Scottish equivalent of English freehold)

  • £419,000, subject to contract

  • 10.9% Net Initial Yield

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Location

Dundee is Scotland’s fourth largest city with a population of approximately 148,000 and over 300,000 people living within a 30 minute drive time. It also has one of the highest student population ratios in the UK with 50,000 people studying within 30 minutes of the city.

The city benefits from good road communications with the A90 connecting to Aberdeen approximately 105 km (65 miles) to the north-east, the M90 linking with Edinburgh approximately 97 km (60 miles) to the north and the A9 to Glasgow some 129 km (80 miles) to the south-west.

Dundee is connected to the national railway network with frequent services to other Scottish cities, including Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow whilst also being situated on the main East Coast route connecting Dundee to Newcastle, York and London, as well as other key UK cities. Dundee Airport operates direct flights to London City. Another key gateway, just a short walk from the city centre, is the Port of Dundee where unrestricted river anchorage is available for deep water vessels of up to 240m.

Dundee is a dynamic city with an exciting future driven by the £1 billion Waterfront Development, the third largest regeneration project in the UK. It is also the UK’s first UNESCO city of design with the V&A the only design museum in the world outside London. (Source: www.investindundee.com).

Situation

The property is located in the heart of the town centre, occupying a prime and prominent position on the corner of the pedestrianised Murraygate, at its junction with Commercial Street.

Surrounding occupiers include Costa (adjacent), Marks & Spencer, HSBC, Bonmarche, Optical Express, Caffe Nero, Greggs and WHSmith. In addition, 11-23 Murraygate (three doors from the subject property) is currently being re-developed to provide a ground floor retail unit which has been let to Tesco on a 15 year lease along with 31 apartments on the upper floors.

The property benefits from being situated midway between the city’s two shopping centres, the Overgate Centre and Wellgate Centre. With over 60 stores and 700 parking spaces, Overgate is home to occupiers including H&M, Primark, JD Sports, Next, Greggs, Sports Direct and Superdry. Wellgate comprises approximately 350,000 sq ft of retail and leisure accommodation and 600 car parking spaces, with retailers including Home Bargains, Iceland, Burger King, B&M, Savers and Poundland.

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Description

The property comprises a ground floor retail unit with ancillary accommodation on lower ground floor. Internally, the retail floor area has been fitted out by the tenant to their usual corporate style. The remaining two upper floors are separately owned.

The building is Listed (hence no empty rates payable) and located within a Conservation Area. 

Accommodation

The property has been measured by BKR Floor Plans and provides the following Net Internal floor areas:

Ground Floor Zone A 59.18 sq m 637 sq ft
Lower Ground Floor 183.20 sq m 1,972 sq ft
Total 242.38 sq m 2,609 sq ft

A set of floor plans is available to download and the measured survey report will be re-addressed to a purchaser at a cost of £425 + VAT.

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Tenure

Heritable (Scottish equivalent of English Freehold).

Tenancy

The property is let to The Body Shop International Limited on a full repairing and insuring lease for a term of 5 years from 10th April 2020, expiring on 9th April 2025.

The current passing rent is £47,500 per annum.

We understand the tenant has been in occupation since 2010 and entered into a lease renewal in 2020, demonstrating their desire to remain in the property.

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Covenant

The Body Shop International Limited (Co. No. 01284170), has reported the following figures;

  31st December 2020 30th December 2019
Turnover £507,000,000 £465,000,000
Pre-Tax Profits (Loss) £14,000,000 (£15,000,000)
Net Assets £324,000,000 £310,000,000

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick in Brighton, England.
It all started as a small shop providing quality skincare products in refilled bottles and with the belief that business could be a force for good and the world - our source of beauty.

Since then. The Body Shop has become a global retail business serving over 30 million customers worldwide, employs 10,000 people with a further 12,000 in its franchise team, and operates in around 3,000 stores in more than 70 countries. For further information see www.thebodyshop.com.

The company’s ultimate parent company is Natura & Co Holdings S.A, a company incorporated in Brazil and listed on the US stock market. Natura & Co operates in more than 100 countries, with over 3,700 stores and 35,000 employees. The company’s brands include Avon, Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop.

VAT

The property has been registered for VAT. It is anticipated that the sale of this property will be treated as a Transfer of a Going Concern (TOGC).

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Proposal

We are instructed to seek a figure of £419,000 (Four Hundred and Nineteen Thousand Pounds), subject to contract, reflecting a net initial yield of 10.9%, assuming standard purchaser’s costs of 4.06%.

Please note that a purchaser will be re-charged the costs of the measured survey (£425 + VAT) and searches which are provided in the data room.

Please note that a purchaser will be charged a Transaction Fee of 1.0% of the Purchase Price plus VAT.

Investment Considerations

  1. An opportunity to acquire a city centre retail investment;

  2. The property occupies a prime retailing pitch;

  3. The investment provides highly secure income, being let to The Body Shop International Limited (Net Assets £324m);

  4. The tenant has been in occupation since 2010 and renewed their lease in 2020, demonstrating their commitment to the property;

  5. A purchase at the asking price reflects an attractive net initial yield;

  6. Attractive lot size to an investor.

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Contact Us

Singer Vielle   +44 (0) 207 935 7200
Dale Henry dale@singervielle.co.uk +44 (0) 203 701 1356
Daniel Elia daniel@singervielle.co.uk +44 (0) 203 701 1353

Vendors Solicitor

Morton Fraser +44 (0) 141 375 0792
Chris McLeish chris.mcleish@morton-fraser.com