The Rock, Bury is a 550,000 sq ft of retail and leisure scheme which opened in July 2010. The Metis Retail and Leisure team have been an integral part of the leasing team since 2011.

The Metis Retail team have worked alongside the Landlord, Kennedy Wilson, to reduce the vacancy rate in the retail element of The Rock from over 12% in 2014 to just 1% by start of 2019.

With a focus on ensuring affordability for occupiers and a consistent approach to tenant mix over 20,000 sq ft of retail space and 12,000 sq ft of restaurant space has been let in the last three years to occupiers including Clarks, Accessorize, Footasylum, Tessuti, Smiggle, Nationwide, Loungers and West Ivy.

A strategic approach to regears has seen removal of tenant break options and/or extend term certain and/or replace turnover only rents with full, fixed rents with some of the higher profile tenants including; Superdrug, Footlocker, River Island, Lush, Costa, H&M, Swarovski, Pure Gym and Card Factory – leading to improved WAULT and enhanced capital value.

This approach has led to the scheme experiencing latent demand and achieving rental growth, despite the challenging market conditions over the last few years.