Portsmouth Luxury Bathroom Showroom For Sale

Business description

Prime situation on a South Coast City pedestrian High Street. High footfall all year round, means no advertising necessary. Website set up. Close to Debenham's and W H Smiths. Contemporary, spacious and well presented showroom. Rear access and parking for owner. Suit experienced trade professional looking to add showroom to existing operation. T/o c. £202k+ Gross Profits £109k

Property information

Property:

Leasehold

Location:

LOCATION

Close to Southsea Common and the Castle, and located in the main pedestrianised shopping precinct, the showroom is ideally placed for shoppers. Southsea is a densely populated area south of Portsmouth City Centre and is easily reached by car and public transport. The business benefits from its excellent trading position close to some of the major high street retailers, including Monsoon, Debenham's, WH Smiths, Carphone Warehouse and Knight and Lee, (part of the John Lewis group).

Southsea castle, constructed by Henry VIII was acquired by Portsmouth City Council in 1960 and restored to its 19th century appearance. The Castle Field holds a variety of events throughout the summer and together with the Sea-Life Centre and the D-Day Museum, ensures that the area is visited by tourists throughout the year. Another attraction is The Mary Rose, which sank just off the Castle shortly after its completion and is to be found in the Naval Dockyards in Portsmouth, together with HMS Victory and HMS Warrior. To the south, a short distance from the showroom, the Common extends for approximately a mile along the seafront with a children's playground at the west end, tennis courts, crazy golf, bowling greens and a skateboard park in the middle with the eastern end mostly laid out to ornamental flower gardens.

BUSINESS:
This privately-owned luxury bathroom design, supply and installation business was only established 4 years ago yet is thriving and owes much of its success to its superb trading location, which is second to none. It has very quickly established a reputation as a supplier of luxury bathrooms with a personal design service provided on-site. Growing customer referrals are a clear sign of the quality of customer service. One of the partners in the business is a qualified plumber. The unusual, high-risk decision to establish a luxury bathroom design and installation business in a pedestrian-ised High Street rather than in an out-of-town location, has certainly paid off as very little paid-for advertising is undertaken or needed, with a steady stream of customers walking in off the street.

BUSINESS PREMISES:
(all sizes are approximate and should be considered 'nominal'.)

Fully glazed frontage with twin opening doors on to pedestrian precinct.
Looking beyond the displays to the pedestrian precinct outside

SHOWROOM

Overall area 10.0m x 5.00m. Contemporary and well-equipped, the showroom has an attractive tiled floor, complemented by a dramatic, black suspended ceiling with concealed down lighters.

Bathroom and shower room sets are attractively laid out with eye-catching displays of various modern radiator styles attractively presented on one of the showroom walls Radiator styles add to the contemporary feel of the showroom

Among the leading brands stocked by the business are the ROCA and IMPERIAL ranges of sanitary ware, KUDOS shower enclosures, GROHE and CROSSWATER brass taps and shower fittings; KERMI radiators and shower enclosures; BETTE and KALDEWEI steel baths from Germany; VandA free-standing baths and SANINOVA acrylic baths. The Vendors have also secured Approved Stockist and Installer status with IMPEY, suppliers of increasingly popular wet rooms.

Hidden behind a partition wall at the far end of the showroom are a useful store room, staff WC facilities, a staff room/ kitchenette for preparing food, with a useful range of worktops, stainless steel sink, non-slip floor covering and a tiled floor in the hallway area.

OUTSIDE - REAR

The convenient rear access enables discreet supplier deliveries with no disruption to the showroom area. The secure, enclosed courtyard also provides useful storage of commercial waste such as customer bathroom fittings removed during an installation. Once a sufficient quantity has built up, a skip is delivered and the waste is carted away.

TENURE:
The premises, which are leasehold, are held on a renewable, 25-year -.-.-. lease, which commenced in 1994, expiring in 2019. The rent is reviewed every five years. The current rent of £25,100 per annum is due for review in 2009.

RATES:
The rateable value of the business premises is £18,500 with rates of £8,826 payable in 2008/9.

SERVICES:
We understand from the vendor that electricity and water services are connected to the property.

TRADE:
Accounts produced for the business show turnover to have reached £202,572 in the year to 31 March 2009 with Gross Profits of £109,770, an excellent, above-industry-sector performance of 54%.
Please note that if a business is VAT registered, all figures exclude VAT.

HOURS:
Monday - Saturday 9.00am - 5.00pm

Closed on Sundays although new owners might consider opening once a month when the Farmers' Market is held in the precinct outside.

STAFF:
The showroom is managed by one of the Vendors assisted by a full-time employee (who is keen to remain with the business) and a part-time employee working 8 hours per day for two days. On the installation side, the Vendor is assisted by a full-time apprentice.

STOCK:
The vendor informs us that the value of the stock is approximately £10,000. Some of the stock is also used for display purposes and is rotated regularly via "ex-Demonstration" discounts.

LEGAL FEES:
Vendors and Buyers each to meet their own legal costs, but if a lease is to be assigned from the vendor to the buyer they will also be expected to share the landlord's legal costs on a 50/50 basis. If a buyer wishes to negotiate a 'new' lease, they will be responsible for all the landlord's legal costs.

COMMENTS:
The Vendors have an exciting opportunity in the USA. This sale therefore represents an excellent opportunity for new owners to capitalise on the solid foundations laid down by the vendors over the past two and a half years. Located in the heart of this pedestrian-ised precinct, adjacent to many leading retailers, there are numerous opportunities to exploit.

Financial information will be made available to seriously interested purchasers after they have formally viewed the business.

LOCAL AUTHORITY:
Portsmouth City Council Tel. - 02392 834 352

INTERNET:
Potential buyers wishing to find out more about the surrounding areas are invited to 'search' under 'Southsea', where numerous sites are available for perusal, or specifically go to 'upmystreet.com' and use the post code 'PO5'

VIEWING

If you wish to discuss this business opportunity in greater detail, or arrange an appointment, please telephone Nick on (023) ---- ----

PLEASE DO NOT MAKE CONTACT DIRECTLY WITH THE BUSINESS