Shoosmiths has been supporting McKay to deliver strategic and sustainable real estate projects since 2007, a time during which our Shoosmiths account team has been able to build up a deep understanding of the McKay business and align our advice to their ambitions as a business.
The long-term nature of this relationship means we understand how McKay likes to work and how to provide the right type of support to help them achieve their key projects and strategic aims. Below are a few examples of the schemes we have assisted McKay to bring to market in recent years.
“Shoosmiths continues to provide stellar real estate support to McKay Securities PLC. The service we receive is always very attentive and the team with whom we work are great to deal with. In a very difficult year for the industry, the attentive service and advice we have received from Shoosmiths has been more valued than ever.
The £14.75m acquisition of Evergreen Studios Richmond added 17,000 sq ft of Grade A office space to McKay’s portfolio. It was followed by an immediate leaseback of the whole building to Sheen Lane Developments Limited for 2 years at a rent of £0.92m per annum. The transaction involved negotiation of rights over the seller’s land retained, detailed planning issues and standardising subletting documentation to ensure that, when the headlease expires, the suite of letting documents McKay inherits are in their approved form and can slot easily into their property management systems. This acquisition and leaseback was an addition of prime office space to McKay’s portfolio and delivered an initial net yield of 5.8%.
A lease and agreement for lease conditional on landlord works of Portsoken House was unusual as the tenant was a granted a ‘CAT A+’ lease. This was a new type of bespoke hybrid lease in which the tenant was let a fully fitted space, including chattels and furniture, enabling a true ‘turn-key ready’ experience for the occupier. The “CAT A+ lease approach has subsequently been rolled out for other properties within the portfolio with equal success.
A complex agreement for surrender and lease, conditional upon planning, for the carrying out of extensive segregation works was recently completed by the team. The transaction involved the surrender of the existing lease of whole, with the tenant taking a lease of part following the completion of the landlord’s segregation works. This deal related to high value assets so was critical to the performance of the McKay portfolio as a whole.
This transaction involved a high profile regear and letting to VSF Global. The lease granted was in relation to the whole of the 12,354 sq ft, 5 floor building in Finsbury Square, London. As a high value asset, the deal was of strategic importance to McKay.
Our team helped negotiate the renewal of 10 leases at Lower Cherwell Street Industrial Estate in Banbury, all expiring in 2026. Each of the renewals were with established occupiers of the industrial estate, demonstrating both McKay’s commitment to securing terms with its long-term tenants as well as the occupiers’ confidence in both the location and ongoing relationship with McKay.