Real Estate Occupiers

As an occupier in today’s market, there are a number of key issues to consider. These include establishing strategies for disposal of surplus properties, whether by way of outright sale of freehold interests or termination/assignment of lease arrangements, ensuring that a tenant is adequately protected on a new headquarters letting, and making sure that the appropriate wayleaves are in place at the time the tenant needs them for communications equipment – essential for business continuity.

Whatever type of premises you want to occupy, it is important that you have an adviser who understands your requirements and your sector and can drive through the deal to meet your timeframe.

At CMS, we act for a wide range of occupier clients across the UK. Over the years, we have used our experience to identify the issues common to leasing; developing processes, toolkits and templates to streamline negotiations and minimise transaction time.

In Scotland, we advise clients like Standard Life (the largest corporate occupier in Scotland) on the management of its operational Scottish properties, including the transfer and leaseback of properties as part of demutualisation and optimisation of space to meet current occupational requirements.

We also act for one of the world’s largest online retailers in relation to the acquisition, development and leasing of its logistics portfolio across Europe and for other occupiers on the disposal of surplus sites for development.

Collaboration with clients and their professional advisors is essential. We believe it is important to share collective expertise with a view to streamlining commercial real estate transactions for the benefit of the real estate market as a whole. In England, we played an integral part in the creation of the Model Commercial Lease – an industry wide standard, and in Scotland we are a founder member of the award-winning Property Standardisation Group developing and publishing a wide range of balanced, easy to use and understand lease management documents.