Pioneering the growth of leading concession businesses in garden centres

Concession is the term that describes a business trading under a contract from a concession stand or area within the premises of another business, or host. A concession is principally a tenant and the host is its landlord. Concessions are usually given a degree of exclusivity by its host to allow it the right to retail certain product ranges. Concessions operate under their own branding and heads of terms are negotiated and agreed prior to a solicitor drafting either a licence or lease which describes the principles terms under which the parties will operate.

Concession rents are usually agreed in a variety of forms to suit the parties; fixed base rents, turnover rents, commission structures or a mixture of the three. Rent reviews are set at certain points during the term and can be linked to RPI, CPI, fixed rent reviews, or open market rents reviews. Service charges, marketing charges and other operating costs are sometimes paid in addition to rents.

Lease terms are agreed to suit the needs of landlord and tenant but concessions usually trade for a period ranging from 3 years to 10 years, with break clauses set at suitable points. Licences are usually for shorter periods and used mainly for concessions that can be relocated at any time, i.e. a short term concessions using small areas of promotional space. Licences usually include shorter break options compared to lease agreements.

Concessions have helped garden centres blossom into multi-million-pound retail hubs and become serious shopping destinations. The term retail concessions covers numerous retail sectors from the traditional aquatic, pets, conservatories, turf supplies and landscaping to the lifestyle retailers offering kitchen ware, fashion, bikes, camping, bathrooms, furniture, lighting, farm shops and groceries.

Other retailers take the opportunity to generate leads from garden centres by setting up a concession stand in small areas by till points or high traffic locations. These promoters use promotional space or exhibition areas to target consumers directly and car companies have found that garden centres are ideal ways to grab the attention of visitors by establishing prominent displays in busy car parks.

First Franchise has assisted many of the UK’s leading retailers take their first step into this new and exciting retail concession market, and these shops have widened the appeal of garden centres for families and created extra reasons for more customers to visit more often.

The history of concessions »