FROM SUGAR TO COTTONS TO NEWS!
Who knew that ED & F Man were the UK’s No.1 importers of molasses… and coffee…and major exporters of London office space? CLIENT BRIEFHaving negotiated the acquisition of 46,000sq ft…
Who knew that ED & F Man were the UK’s No.1 importers of molasses… and coffee…and major exporters of London office space?
CLIENT BRIEFHaving negotiated the acquisition of 46,000sq ft of new offices at The News Building (Baby Shard) for Spring 2016, Ask-re were instructed to ship out 3 floors of offices at the Cotton’s Centre, where Man had moved from Sugar Quay 25 years before.
OUR PROFESSIONAL APPROACHOur mission was to ‘export’ the cost and liabilities from the business, timed to coincide with the relocation in to the New(s) offices Q1 2016. Marketing began in late Summer 2015, when the exit part for the business operation could be assured and actions committed. Markets hate uncertainty but this was just one of our challenges in getting the space disposed of.
We progressively marketed the offices whilst dealing with the challenging terms of the leaseholds being offered, using all the media outlets we could think of including letter-drops and direct-calling. In this technological time, tradition still works!
THE SUCCESS STORYOver to Autumn, we dealt with the financial and practical and legal loose-ends of assigning the existing leases and eventually agreed terms for year-end transactions, so that the Man business had certainty of successful, co-ordinated and well-executed mobilisation and relocation out of its old offices and out of its ongoing liabilities.
The biggest ‘win’ is certainty and security for the trading operators but the financial savings will make a substantial contribution to the new business year from Q1 2016 onward.