Very Busy Newsagents In Skelmersdale For Sale

Business description

Large, lock up shop in modern shopping centre in Skelmersdale, W. Lancs. High footfall, weekly takings in excess of £18,000, plus lottery and paypoint commission. Rent £31,500 pa. 4 years remaining on renewable lease. Would ideally suit owner operator situation.

Property information

Property:

Leasehold

Location:

LOCATION:
The shop is located in the Concourse Shopping Centre, in the heart of Skelmersdale. This is a modern, purpose built centre with a range of local independents and high street names. It enjoys heavy footfall and is a popular shopping destination.

BUSINESS:
This business trades as a traditional newsagents selling a wide range of news, magazines, tobacco, confectionery, greetings cards and chilled cold drinks. It is also a Lottery and PayPoint agent. The shop trades under the name Supernews but this is not included in the sale and the new owner would need to re-brand the shop upon completion of the purchase.

BUSINESS PREMISES:
(all sizes are approximate and should be considered 'nominal'.)
The premises comprise a ground floor lock up unit with retail area, rear storage and WC. The shop has fully glazed frontage, secured with electric shutters, ceramic tiled floor and suspended ceiling with inset lighting. The retail area measures approximately 675 sq ft. and is extremely well presented and equipped with a range of wall mounted display units for magazines, confectionery and groceries. There is a central display gondola, chilled drinks cabinet and wall mounted cigarette gantry to the rear of the serving counter. Lottery and PayPoint terminals are also installed close to the sales counter. To the rear, there are storage facilities and a WC.
Note: Where items of equipment and appliances are mentioned, no warranty is given or implied as to their operational condition.

TENURE:
This is a leasehold opportunity and there is a 5 year lease in place which expires in January 2016. The lease is within the LTA 1954 and as such renewal rights apply. The current rent is £31,500 per year. Please be aware that the landlord will require references to support your application as a tenant and may request a rent deposit of between 3 and 6 months.

RATES:
The rateable value of the business premises is £34,000, with rates of £14,772 payable in 2011/12.
Note: It is recommended that potential buyers make their own enquiries through the local authority to check whether the rateable value remains correct and whether the rates payable will be the figure quoted above.

TRADE:
From information supplied by the owner, turnover for the 12 months ending July 2011 was £974,156 with a gross profit of £162,477. Detailed figures are provided at the end of these particulars and have been signed and verified by the Financial Director of the limited company who owns this shop.
Please note that if a business is VAT registered, all figures are net of VAT.

HOURS:
Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm
Saturday 8.30am to 5.00pm

STAFF:
This shop is one of many owned by a large company and as such is management run. There are 6 members of staff employed who work a total of 158 hours a week. These include a manager, assistant manager and 4 sales assistants.

STOCK:
The vendor informs us that the value of the stock is approximately £30,000.

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:
1. National Lottery and other agencies
The transfer of a National Lottery agency or any other agency are at the sole discretion of those operators. In some instances a transfer could incur the payment of a "bond" or deposit to the agency confirmed.

2. Deposits
Successful bidders are to pay a non-refundable deposit to Adams and Co of £4,000 which will be offset on completion of purchase against the purchase price. In the event the purchaser reneges on the agreed terms and conditions of a sale and purchase, the deposit will be forfeited. In the unlikely event the vendor withdraws, the deposit will be repaid in full.

3. Timescale
The sale and purchase of the subject businesses will be on a Subject to Contract basis. Time will be of the essence, insofar as proposed purchasers will be required to enter into a contract, albeit conditional upon landlord's consent and within a maximum of 21 days from the date that draft documents are received by their solicitors. Proposed purchasers should ensure that their solicitors are made aware of this condition of sale and are capable of dealing with the vendor's standard form of contract within the required timescale.

4. Trade fixtures, fittings and equipment
The business is offered for sale as going concerns to include most of the fixtures, fittings and equipment. However, any scanning system/tills will NOT be included in any proposed sale. The home news delivery (HND) computers (where applicable) can be included, but are subject to separate negotiation. In the event that a purchaser does not require a computerised HND system, the vendor will provide a list of delivery customers and debtors and it will be the purchaser's responsibility to acquire and install a manual system. Inventories will be made available once sales have been
agreed. In addition to items owned by the vendor and included in the proposed sales, these inventories will also
include items that are the property of suppliers and/or manufacturers and proposed purchasers should make their
own enquiries with regard to the continuing use of these items.