There is nothing more important for a food company than getting the right premises to sell your food and beverage products to the right consumers. Find the ideal place and you’ll have everything you need to make a success of your business and thrive for years to come.
But what should you look for? If you’re looking to rent retail space for a food business, read on to find out the key things you need to look for in a premises.
The day-to-day practicalities
Most importantly, your space has to have everything you need to prepare, store and serve the food you are making. That means working out how much space you need behind the counter for preparation and cooking.
It also means you should look for somewhere that has enough ambient and cold storage for your product so that you’re never caught short.
If you are operating and eat-in restaurant instead of a pure takeaway, you need to work out how many tables and chairs you want to provide and take that into account too.
Footfall
You can have the best restaurant in the world, but if people don’t walk past it then you will struggle to get enough custom to succeed.
That makes finding a location with high levels of footfall extremely important for any food business looking to rent a retail unit.
High footfall locations like shopping centres are attracting more and more food businesses thanks to the high footfall they can provide. For example, the Brunel Shopping Centre in Swindon has a footfall of more than 13 million people each year, making it easy to see why its food court occupiers are thriving.
Room to expand
Commercial retail units to rent often come in clusters. Whether it is a high street or a shopping centre, you will find a range of units in the same location of different sizes.
For a food business, that means that you can find a location where you can succeed – and that offers larger units to move into when business is good. Being able to expand and move without having to find a new location is a big benefit to any retailer, especially in the food business where you want to stay in a premium location to keep your customers.
Join a food court
There are lots of different types of retail space to rent in the UK, but food businesses can benefit by gathering together in specialised food and beverage locations.
A great example of this is the shopping centre food court which has become a destination in its own right.
By combining powers with established retailers and other food and beverage providers, a shopping trip to somewhere like North Point Shopping Centre in Hull becomes a full day out for thousands of people.
They can come to the shopping centre and get everything they need – including food from your business. Choosing a space like this brings you a ready made customer base.
Property classification
Finally, you should make sure that the retail unit you want to rent has the right classification for your business.
- The planning classes in use in the UK are:
- A1 - Shops
- A2 - Financial and Professional Services
- A3 - Restaurants and Cafes
- B1 - Business
- D1 - Non- residential institutions
If you want to operate a food and beverage business, you need to make sure that the retail unit you rent is classified for A3 use.
If you’re unsure, the best course of action is to speak to one of our experts who will be able to tell you everything you need to know. Browse our available retail units and get in touch today.