Amateur property hunters are costing their companies thousands of pounds a year when it comes to acquiring new business premises by not using a chartered surveyor to carry out the search and negotiate the terms, according to one of Teesside’s most experienced commercial property agents.
Stephen Brown, senior partner at Teesside independent commercial property consultants Dodds Brown LLP, says that many organisations searching for business space in the North East believe that they are saving money by looking for their own premises, but, by not having an experienced local property agent acting for them, they are actually losing cash.
He says: “Finding the right commercial property is not easy. Some properties are openly on the market, but not easily identifiable from one source, and a great many are off market. Businesses may never be aware of the entire choice, or believe, wrongly, that the type of premises for which they are searching does not exist.
“For businesses looking to acquire new manufacturing premises, the choice can be especially limited, with few ‘shovel ready’ employment sites available. Here agents’ contacts and knowledge of planning and property values can be particularly valuable in identifying and securing land and building new premises,” continues Mr Brown, who has worked in commercial property on Teesside for more than 30 years.
“For organisations looking to rent existing premises, there is a common misconception that agents can only help to negotiate the cost of the lease, and it is possible for any business person to bargain the rent down. But they do not know, because they do not work in the property market day in day out, just how much of a reduction they can negotiate.
“They also forget that rent makes up only around 60% of their total property costs and agents can help with service charge costs too, as well as with issues such as lease length, break clauses, assignments and other contractual terms.
“So, if you are looking for property for your business, the question should not be can you afford to pay a professional property agent to advise you, but can you afford not to,” concludes Mr Brown.
Dodds Brown offers a dedicated Acquisitions and Relocations service for businesses looking for commercial property throughout the North East. In the past two years, it has helped more than 20 organisations identify and acquire new premises.
Most notable among these are car parts manufacturer Nifco UK, Teesside’s largest private sector employer, which Dodds Brown advised on the identification and acquisition of its new manufacturing facility in Eaglescliffe, and family footwear retailer Charles Clinkard, advised by Dodds Brown on the identification and acquisition of the site for its new £3 million head office in Cannon Park Middlesbrough.
