Glasgow Waitrose stores sold in major £23m deal

Avignon Capital, the European property investment firm and asset manager, has acquired the two prime supermarket sites from Town Centres Securities for £23.2 million. Both stores are let to Waitrose, the upmarket grocery arm of the John Lewis Partnership.

The stores are located at West Retail Park, Glasgow Road, Milngavie and Byres Road in the city’s west end.

Rod Leslie, director in the investment team at Savills Scotland, which advised Avignon Capital, said: “We are extremely pleased to have secured the purchase of these two Waitrose stores on behalf of our client which represents their first foray into the supermarket sector.

“Both properties have strong underlying fundamentals, let to a major food occupier offering certainty of income and growth combined with future asset management opportunities.

“In an environment characterised by zero interest rates, food stores such as these, offering defensive income streams are highly sought after amongst investors who recognise the sector’s resilience throughout the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.”

Town Centres Securities was advised by Sheridan Property Consultants.

In September, it emerged that John Lewis employees will not receive a bonus for the first time since the aftermath of the Second World War, as the amount of money spent in stores plummeted during the coronavirus crisis.

Staff, known in the business as “partners”, have received a pay out every year since 1953, when a halt to bonuses implemented in 1948 came to an end.

However, the group said that the picture was looking brighter than when it issued its trading update in April.

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