Henry Taggart in our Coleraine office is pleased to report a busier year so far in 2015 with several lettings currently agreed and deals done to date, the most prominent of which being a letting in The Diamond to Specsavers who took over 6,000 sq ft, with others such as Cafe Nero and Phones4U in 2014. Whilst provincial town lettings can still of course be at times inconsistent, this clear investment by Specsavers and several others shows a revival of confidence in the retail sector that has been greatly lacking since 2009 and is very positive indeed for the years to come if the trend can be maintained.
The Rating revaluation in recent months has greatly assisted in terms of stimulating interest in vacant prime retail outlets with parts of Coleraine seeing a long overdue 40% reduction in the headline NAV. However in relation to more secondary streets where there were nominal reductions or in some cases rate increases, this could hamper uptake over the short term.
