We have been in the industry of commercial leasing for decades, and uniquely we work on behalf of commercial property tenants, not the landlords. We are passionate about negotiating the best deal and to help create sustainable success and growth for you and your business.

This week we wanted to shine a light on a deal that we’ve completed that might be similar to your situation.

Who is the Client?  Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND Association)

Background: 
The MND Association approached us back in 2018 as they needed help to relocate to more suitable offices in Northampton. 

The MND Association is a charity focused on improving access to care, research and campaigning for people affected by motor neurone disease. It was really important for us to find a building that was easily accessible and could work for everything the charity needed; open plan workspace, function rooms, accessible for staff and visitor facilities and more, all within the leasing budget set by the charity. 

After putting forward a number of suggestions, a suitable office was found and a 10-year lease was negotiated with a tenant break clause at the end of year 6.  

What was the issue?
In September 2023 the landlord’s agent approached us to enquire whether our client (the MNDA), was prepared to vary the lease and remove the 6-year break clause from the lease. Note, a break clause allows a party to end a lease early subject to complying with the agreed conditions. By removing the break clause from the lease, the landlord would improve their certainty of income, which in this instance increased the property value for the landlord.  It also gave the landlord confidence to refurbish other parts of the building, knowing they had a secure tenant in part.

How we approached it:
Working with our Client, we spoke to them about the landlord’s suggestion, and we talked them through the consequences of giving up their break clause, but also talked them through the incentives/compensation that we felt could be negotiated as part of the agreement.  

To handle these negotiations, we use our decades of experience and industry market knowledge. We ensure we are equipped and up to date with everything we need, all to ensure our clients realise the benefit.

The Solution:

As a result of the conversations that we had with all parties, we negotiated with the landlord to remove the break clause and varied the lease to save the Client a substantial sum in recompense.

“We worked with you previously to find us our new national office and negotiate the lease terms, back in 2019. You stood out to us because of our excellent partnership in working with a priority on our specific needs and requirements. As we had no intention of exercising our 5-year break clause, we wanted to understand if our landlord would consider re-negotiating the terms of our lease to avoid a price review and reduce the overall cost of our rent. We had no idea what was possible but were pleasantly surprised at the deal that was negotiated. We’ve used you twice now & been delighted with the service on both occasions, we would happily recommend you.”

Darren Carr

Head of Facilities Management