Colliers International’s Shopping Centre Management team has achieved record results in rent collection for 2015 so far, billing a total of £121 million on behalf of clients for Q2 2015. As Autumn 2015 Quarter Day approaches, the team is hoping to build on this success despite Q3 being deemed as ‘the toughest quarter of the year’.
David Fox, head of retail agency North for Colliers International, said; “The autumn quarter is always the toughest quarter day for those landlords collecting rent with a high percentage of retail property in their portfolio.
“A combination of stores needing to be fully stocked for the key Christmas trading season, suppliers asking for ever shorter payment terms and shoppers holding out for price reductions and sales put intense cash flow pressure on retailers. This makes rent collection tougher at this point of the year than any other. Increased confidence this year however should make life a little easier compared to 2011/12 when the high street suffered its greatest losses.”
Colliers hopes to draw on its experience and strong track record for timely rent collection to minimise the impact of this tough quarter for clients. Within 14 days of the end of Q2 2015, Colliers’ dedicated shopping centre management team had collected 99 per cent of the rent billed to tenants, across 41 UK shopping centres. The team has consistently achieved a 99 per cent collection rate within a 14 day timeframe for over seven years now.
On the team’s success, Sophie Orme, head of Colliers International’s shopping centre management team, added: “Over the last two years, our managed rent roll has increased by 25 per cent and throughout this growth period our finance team has amazingly managed to maintain our 99% success rate in rent collection, which can only be testament to the high calibre of professionals we have working with us.
“According to a recent industry report, the average IPD property portfolio loses a six figure sum every year due to poor rent collection. Our continuing success in rent collection demonstrates that shopping centre investors and developers can rely on Colliers to consistently deliver cash flows better than the market average even on the most challenging of portfolios.”
Colliers International’s Shopping Centre Management team manages more than 40 centres across the UK.