Covent Garden and West End owner Shaftesbury Capital says trading is strong

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jun 14, 2023

A hundred days into the integration of property giants Shaftesbury and Caapco and the combined business is going well, according to the new entity Shaftesbury Capital. In a trading update Wednesday, ahead of its AGM a day later,  a “pleased” chief executive Ian Hawksworth said the integration was “progressing well”. 

“We are encouraged by operational progress, prospects for our prime West End portfolio and the benefits we are seeing from the combined platform,” he added.

And in terms of business? The portfolio, which includes London's Covent Garden and Seven Dials, Carnaby including Soho, and Chinatown, has delivered a strong operating performance reflecting its exceptional qualities and long-term resilience. Against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty, demand for space in our West End locations continues to be strong across all uses.” 

That includes 173 leasing transactions (28 of which are retail) completed in the first five months of the year, with rents on average 6% ahead of December 2022, “providing confidence for rental growth prospects.”

This has has been underpinned by a “flurry of openings” including the new flagship Uniqlo store as well as Gramicci in Covent Garden and Farah in Soho. Jeweller Mejuri and footwear retailer Hoka are also set to open shortly.

Meanwhile its retail tenants  are also seeing encouraging trading activity, with reported sales on average 13% above 2019. Vacancy rates are low.

Meanwhile, footfall trends across the West End are “positive… buoyed by increasing international tourist numbers, particularly evident through May following the Coronation celebrations and this is anticipated to continue through the summer”, it noted

And, of course, the merger is also about cutting costs, with actions taken to date expected to result in annualised savings of around £7.5 million.