Client: Pizza Express - Uxbridge

At the end of 2005, Pizza Express recently asked us for our help in disposing of its HQ and warehouse facility at 1 Union Business Park in Uxbridge and at the same time, finding a new 10,000 sq ft dough production facility and 10,000 sq ft of office accommodation for its administrative staff.

We prepared a marketing strategy for the disposal space and got to work on finding new premises for its production and administration staff.

Our strategy set out our realistic expectation of finding a new tenant for Union Business Park within 12 months. By June 2005, however, we had identified a potential occupier and the premises were under offer six months earlier than predicted in our marketing report.

Although our client was prepared to see the warehouse and office accommodation let separately or together, however, we found a single tenant making negotiations and completion a much more straightforward proposition. We negotiated a sublease for Pizza Express with Kuehne & Nagel, the world’s largest, privately-owned, logistics company on favourable terms.

Meanwhile, to ensure Pizza Express had the flexibility it needed to accommodate staff following the completion of the Union Park sublet, we found office space in Uxbridge at Hunton House. The 8,500 sq ft of office space was available on a short-term lease while Pizza Express considered a longer-term move. From receiving the instruction to find short term space to completion took our business space agency team just six weeks – a speedy transaction by any standard.

Our team has also found a suitable dough production unit for Pizza Express in Oxfordshire.