Sector Focus


Retail Helping independent retailers


The Arcadian: No frills gym opening later this year


Pure Gym moves


into The Arcadian Pure Gym is pumping up its Birmingham presence by opening a gym at The Arcadian. The new gym – the company’s


sixth in Birmingham – will open later this year at Chaplin Court, The Arcadian, which is owned and managed by LCP, the national commercial property and investment company. It has agreed a 15-year lease for


the 16,442 sq ft ground floor facility. It represents an investment of around £1.2m by Pure Gym, the no-frills, high-quality fitness specialist which has more than 200 gyms nationwide. Duncan Costin, property director


at Pure Gym, said: “Opening at The Arcadian fills an obvious gap in our overall gym offer in the Birmingham area and enables us to reach a wider customer base. We’re looking forward to opening in 2018.”


Recently, I have been researching the various finance and funding options that are available to help businesses grow. As part of this, I was really


pleased to hear of a couple of local business people that had applied for and successfully obtained business funding that is available from BCRS Business Loans.


‘Independent retailers are the heartbeat of our town centres, the points of difference and the source of tremendous knowledge and inspiration’


It was good to hear how simple


and efficient they had found the whole process – which was especially good to hear when the funding in question was being sought to help with the purchase of a retail operation – not exactly a sure-fire bet to be successful these days if you believe all you read! However what made all the


difference was that the individuals in question had a very good


Retail Therapy


By Peter Hardingham General Manager, The Octagon Centre, Burton


understanding of the retail business, a sound and solid business plan and a very real passion for the retail industry. All are attributes which in any


sector one would like to think would go a long way to help capture the support of traditional banks and other similar lenders if one was trying to raise funds. But even with a significant contribution towards the purchase price available this was still not the case, and their plans seemed doomed until they contacted BCRS Business Loans. Based in Wolverhampton, the


company turned the situation on its head and recognised the opportunity, the jobs that could be safeguarded and the future possibilities that such an investment could bring. After all, independent retailers are the heartbeat of our town centres, the points of difference and the source of tremendous knowledge and inspiration. Their presence and strength go a


long way to help define what both visitors and residents think of a town centre. And this is important because


we might be led to think sometimes that the High Street is on its knees and that the internet will finish off all retailers by Christmas but in reality 85 per cent of all retail sales are still carried out from traditional stores and shops, and that includes all those vans whizzing around with their supermarket online shopping onboard. But whatever business sector


you are in, if you have a solid plan, lots of energy and real enthusiasm and passion there are locally available ways to make that vision a reality. The couple I referred to at the start completed their business purchase on the 1 May.


62 CHAMBERLINK June 2018


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