• Popular South-West City for both commerce and tourism

• Highly attractive retail investment

• Let Sportswift Ltd, trading as Card Factory

• Excellent city centre retailing pitch enjoying high levels of footfall

• Virtual Freehold

• VAT free investment opportunity

• Offers in excess of £710,000, subject to contract

• 12.0% Net Initial Yield

The subject property is situated in a prominent position at the south-eastern end of the High Street in amongst the prime shopping area which lies a short distance to the north-west located between the Guildhall Centre, the John Lewis store and the Princesshay Shopping Centre. The High Street is a designated pedestrian zone with limited access for buses and taxis only.

The historic Guildhall is located directly opposite the property, built in circa 1466 it is now Grade I Listed and is still used regularly for civic functions, full meetings of the City Council, official receptions, mayoral banquets and exhibitions.

Other nearby occupiers include Santander, NatWest, Burger King, White Stuff and Dr. Martens. Exeter is a well-established retail centre and provides one of Devon’s primary shopping destinations. The Princesshay Shopping Centre was developed by Land Securities Plc and opened in 2007. Guildhall Shopping Centre is located at the southern end of the High Street and is a retail and restaurant location, anchored by Primark, Wilko and Sainsbury’s. Approximately £12m was spent by Aviva investors in remodelling the Queen Street restaurant area to make it a destination for A3 occupiers within the city.

The property comprises a Grade II listed building providing a ground floor retail unit with ancillary accommodation at basement level. The basement level provides storage, male and female WC’s and a staff kitchen area. Internally, the retail floor area has been fitted out by the tenant to their typical specification.

The upper parts of the property, comprising residential accommodation, is not owned by the vendor and, therefore, is not included within the investment. We understand that the upper floors are owned by Burrington Estates.

The property is Grade II listed (hence, empty rates are not payable) and situated within the Exeter Central Conservation Area.

Virtual Freehold for a term of 999 years from 11th October 1985 at a peppercorn rent. Contributions to the maintenance of the property are organised through a service charge which is operated by managing agents, Whitton & Lang, on behalf of the freeholder, Cathedral View (Exeter) Limited. Current service charge contributions are £3,239 – the service charge is available to download (see “Commercial Premises B”).

Sportswift Limited (Co. No. 3493972), has reported the following figures;

The Company is the principal trading entity within the Card Factory plc Group, the UK’s leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, dressings and gifts. The Company focuses on the value and mid-market segments of the UK’s large and resilient greeting cards market, in addition to offering a range of complementary products associated with card giving occasions. The UK card and gift market is large and highly fragmented with the greetings card sector alone estimated by industry analysts to be worth c. £1.3 billion at retail sales value. Card Factory commenced operations in 1997 and now operates through its nationwide chain of over 1,000 stores as well as through its online offering www.cardfactory.co.uk.

A recent article published in The Times titled “The party’s not over for Card Factory” (23 May 2021) explains how the company has been affected by the impact of Covid but, having been profitable since 2014, offering a personalised card service on their website as of 2020 and having sales in Aldi and Matalan stores, the outlook is optimistic for the company and a recommended buy share.

The property has not been registered for VAT and therefore VAT is not applicable on the purchase price.

1. An opportunity to acquire an attractive investment in a popular , historic, south-west city;

2. The property is let to the well-regarded covenant of Sportswift Limited with Net Assets of £53m (2020);

3. Ground and basement premises providing excellent frontage onto Exeter’s pedestrianised retailing location;

4. The property occupies an excellent retailing pitch in the heart of Exeter city centre;

5. VAT free investment opportunity;

6. Virtual Freehold at a peppercorn rent;

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

8. Attractive lot size to an investor.

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