Businesses call for lower rent in Great Western Arcade
“This is the first time in four years I’ve heard anything from them,” Mr Lamb said. “It’s only because we’re kicking up a stink about it now that we’re even getting anything from them. The problem is that people come here and they don’t even expect to buy anything because so many of the shops are shut. Surely the owners would prefer to bring down rents and at least get some people in paying a service charge and paying them some rent than have all these empty units.”
A spokesperson for Aviva Investors, landlord of the Great Western Arcade, said the company tried to offer competitive rents and had recently invested heavily in refurbishing the centre.
She added: “We have been looking to increase the profiles of our retailers who we appreciate are having a difficult time during this economic downturn. We are working with a team of specialist retail agents to seek new tenants for the empty units within the arcade. We can confirm that we have recently signed up one new tenant as well as being at the final stages of negotiation with another three potential newcomers and we hope to be able to make a further announcement in the next few weeks.
“We have invested in a professional marketing and advertising company to promote the arcade and raise the profiles of our independent retailers. A substantial proportion of these costs are being covered by Aviva as we are conscious of keeping service charges low and avoiding additional charges.
“The team at Aviva Investors, along with centre management team King Sturge, our retail agents in DTZ and Bidwell Webber De-Pons, and our colleagues at Retail Birmingham, are all passionate about the Great Western Arcade and its retailers.”
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