Cooke & Arkwright Secure Lease for Esquires Coffee in Newport

13 May 2024
  • esquires coffee, cooke & arkwright, chartered surveyors, retail property

Share this

Esquires Coffee was founded in 1993 in British Columbia by two entrepreneurial business graduates who wanted to serve the best coffee to their community. Now, they are a globally recognised coffee franchise serving ethical coffee all over the world. Most recently, they have opened a new shop in Newport. The coffee shop has had a successful opening with customers enjoying the 100% organic coffee and fresh food they are serving.

Ben Davies of Cooke & Arkwright negotiated and secured the lease for Esquires Coffee on behalf of franchisee Rashid Habib. This marks the second Esquires Coffee shop in Wales and commemorates Mr Habib’s first franchise acquisition through Cooke & Arkwright, with aspirations for more. Esquires Coffee are expanding even more in South Wales with another shop opening in Cardiff Bay very soon.

Ben Davies commented “This acquisition marks the first Esquires Coffee shop for franchisee, Rashid Habib, and we’re delighted to have acted on his behalf in this transaction. Identifying the right unit, in a busy location, were key elements to securing the first store. We share Esquires’ optimism in the envisaged success of the stores’ performance and look forward to advising on further acquisitions in south Wales.”

All of the units are now let on the parade which is managed by LCP Group. Despite a challenging market, this transaction demonstrates the demand for such locations, situated in close proximity to predominantly office and residential uses.

Philip Gwyther of EJ Hales acted on behalf of the landlord said “We are delighted to have let this prominent corner unit to Esquires who will significantly add to the tenant mix of this very busy retail parade, which benefits from onsite customer car parking.”

Esquires Coffee have completed large scale improvements to the unit by opening up the side, adding windows and outdoor seating making it much more visible from the road and street traffic. The unit comprises 1,500 sq ft internally in addition to the outdoor seating. The landlord submitted a planning application in order to secure the change of use to class A1/A3.

George Watson, Senior Asset Manager at LCP said: ”This is a perfect fit for this parade and we are delighted to be working with such a forward thinking business which customers will love.”

Cooke & Arkwright have been providing rating valuation advice to The Welsh Rugby Union Limited (“WRU”) and Millennium Stadium plc for many years. They were recently successful in achieving substantial reductions in the assessments of the Millennium Stadium, covering both the 2005 and 2010 rating list. These negotiated reductions yielded savings of c.£3.5m which, crucially, allows the WRU to re-invest in rugby throughout Wales. They advise the WRU across the group portfolio including the National Centre of Excellence in the Vale of Glamorgan. The valuation issues across the WRU portfolio are complex requiring a high level of understanding of the funding and finances of professional sport in Wales. Cooke & Arkwright’s experience and understanding of these issues and application to the rating valuation have yielded these substantial negotiated reductions. The WRU and the Millennium Stadium entrust our work to organisations with the required levels in experience and expertise in dealing with these complex issues. I am glad to say we have this expertise in Wales. I would have no hesitation in recommending ratepayers making use of this Welsh based expertise.

The Welsh Rugby Union Limited, Welsh Rugby Union Group