Imagine being forced to relocate from your house. A building
that you own. Lived in. Created memories in. Had good times (and bad)... AND
you don’t want to leave.
THEN you have to find a new premises, and in and amongst off
all this you need to understand how this complex process is compensated? Not
ideal.
Not ideal, is an understatement. Especially when the
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) is related to the property that your business
own and occupy. There is a chance you and your staff could be homeless (well
‘officeless’). So when John Wellman the CEO of Bleep UK was served a notice by
HS2 to leave an office building that his business had owned and occupied for a
decade and find a new HQ by January 2018, you can understand the frustration…
The issue was made more difficult by the fact that a large
part of Park Royal - where Bleep were based - was also subject to Compulsory
Purchase Orders and therefore the amount of business space available to
relocate to was scarce. Finding a suitable ‘like for like’ premises in close proximity?
Even harder. This coupled with the fact that Bleep wanted to buy a building
with vacant possession. A tall order.
Enter Mellersh & Harding in February 2017. Sourcing
suitable alternative freehold and leasehold premises within a short radius from
the current location was not easy. However, by June 2017 Bleep were under-offer
on a 5,700 sq ft warehouse office in an off-market opportunity in Tudor Estate,
just 1.5 miles from their current offices. Result? Almost. But not quite. The
process of obtaining approval from HS2 and their consultants is not without its
difficulties, which puts a huge strain on the legal process. Fortunately
Bleep’s new landlord SEGRO were understanding and accommodating during this
process. We finally completed the lease in November 2017. Bleep will now start
their fit-out process, giving them three months to move by the end of January
2018.
Mellersh & Harding introduced Bleep to their CPO
consultants Dunthorne Development Consulting (DDC), their Solicitors Marriot
Harrison and SEC Interiors who advised on their office fit-out. The relocation
process couldn’t have been achieved without the expert advice of Julie
Dunthorne from DDC who handled the CPO negotiations with HS2’s representatives
throughout the process.
Back