I've posted previously about the need for change in the relationship between landlord and tenant and whilst C*v*d (I can't type it anymore!) has now become a part of a daily lives and will do so for some time yet it's clear that as a catalyst for change we are witnessing a very rare occurrence and one which presents opportunities for those receptive to it.

Whilst there are significant complications in changing "retail" around existing valuations and financing it is openly acknowledged that there is a significant amount of capital waiting to be spent and it may well be that in the next cycle new investment may well be more willing and able to embrace new methods of managing retail (and other) properties without the shackles of existing financing to unwind and (whisper it quietly) the option of a new leasing model to embrace.

There has been much discussion and commentary about the re-emergence of turnover rents (did they ever go away ?) as the solution to retail woes whereas reality would suggest that turnover rents may be part of the solution coupled with a far wider data driven logic. 

The "Halo effect", the use of footfall and mobile phone data is not necessarily new but bringing them into the valuation model presents an opportunity for landlords and occupiers to think outside the box and come together without perhaps the battle hardened edge to negotiations that has evolved over the years.

With 90% of all retail spend in the UK being influenced by a physical store it's evident that retail isn't dead but there is a time for change and that change is now....

With thanks to Dan Parr, Alex McCulloch and the team at CACI for their steady stream of data driven logic. If you haven't had the chance to review their work then I can highly recommend it - follow the link.