Challenge

Vail Williams was appointed by longstanding client, residential conveyancing firm My Home Move, to provide strategic advice on their varied property portfolio across the UK.

Having acquired multiple conveyancing firms, the business sought the expertise of our occupier advisory team to proactively assess and consolidate their portfolio, taking advantage of lease events, negotiating dilapidations liabilities down, and delivering significant saving opportunities through effective management of their real estate.

How we helped
  • Provided a proactive, structured property portfolio review, drawing on expertise of our multi-disciplinary property experts.
  • Communicated regularly with the client to plan for forthcoming lease events or savings opportunities in relation to their portfolio.
  • Assessed six properties in 12 months, delivering full-service property advice to review and consolidate the portfolio.
  • Advice included lease restructuring and re-negotiation, stay vs go analysis, break option negotiations, acquisitions advice, dilapidations assessments and associated negotiations, and business rates advice.

“Vail Williams has provided a proactive portfolio management service at a time of rapid change for our business which has been invaluable. Not only have they kept a proactive eye on lease events, they have delivered significant property efficiencies too  – be it through business rates savings, dilapidations negotiations or exercising lease breaks.”

Jon Hood, Group Facilities Manager, My Home Move.

Result
  • By bringing together a multi-disciplinary team, we helped our client respond to the market, rationalising the double overheads they had inherited through business acquisition.
  • In Manchester, we secured a move from 40,000 sq ft Linley House, to serviced offices saving a significant amount in rent.
  • In Leeds, we consolidated space at Hurley House, negotiating their dilapidations bill down materially.
  • In Southport we carried out a stay vs go analysis to inform their property decisions, meanwhile in Leicester we re-negotiated lease terms with a sub-tenant, exercised breaks and provided dilapidations advice.
  • Lease terms were also renegotiated in Colchester, which saw our client hand back space to be let to existing tenant, with dilapidations assessment.

Get in touch

If you think you may need similar support to that described here, or you would simply want to have an informal chat with a member of our team to discuss your property needs, get in touch.