Over the last ten years the HCD Group has worked closely with some of the most successful retailers in the UK, gaining valuable insight into the way this important marketplace operates. Today we are a well-established market leader in this niche sector.
“In 2012, the top four supermarket groups secured planning consent for an additional 7.38m sq ft*; in the same year the HCD Group was appointed on over 8m sq ft of retail space across the UK.”
* Source Grocer Magazine/EMAP
Our experience of working in the retail sector covers a broad range of sub-markets, including supermarkets, the High Street, the licensed & leisure sector, banking and out of town retail.
We continue to support our clients across a multitude of schemes aiming always to make key contributions to risk reduction, cost certainty and to minimising inefficiency in the design process.
We have developed and tailored our services to deliver efficient and proactive support which targets the fast-moving requirements of retail operators. We provide services to national retailers including Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, RBS, Co-op, The Restaurant Group, McColls, JD Sports, Carphone Warehouse and Specsavers.
Recent projects of note include the major redevelopment of Borough Market area in South East London, the St Stephen’s Place Leisure Park regeneration scheme in Trowbridge, and the £50m mixed use redevelopment of Regent Circus in Swindon.
High Street Sector
The traditional UK High Street has changed dramatically in recent years under the dual impact of online shopping and out of town shopping destinations.
However, despite these harsh conditions, some high street names continue to expand and evolve the customer experience in-store to provide what the customers want by responding to changing shopping habits. These retailers are investing in and embracing technology to attract extra footfall – with ‘Click and Collect’ being one innovation.
HCD has worked with developers and high street retailers on landmark projects across the country, including the UK’s busiest shopping destination, Oxford Street in London, where a flagship retail, office and residential scheme is currently underway.
“Having HCD working closely with our professional team at an early stage has enabled us to develop a viable and compliant designed scheme from the start.”
Daemon Sheehan, Construction Director, Citygrove Securities – £50m Westgate leisure and retail complex, Aldershot.
Licensed & Leisure Sector
Over the past decade the food-related segments of the UK licensed and leisure sector have shown strong growth, with spending in restaurants and cafes almost doubling since 2001.
In this exciting marketplace, HCD has provided a range of integrated services to market leading brands on high profile schemes which include pubs, restaurants, and coffee bars. Among our extensive list of clients in this sector are TGI Friday’s, Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns. We also work with coffee outlets Starbucks, Café Nero and Costa Coffee plus a range of brands for Mitchells & Butlers –the leading operator of restaurants and pubs in the UK – including All Bar One, Harvester and Toby Carvery. in our sector experience. We also provide engineering and building control advice to the Restaurant Group across the Frankie and Benny’s, Chiquito’s, Coast to Coast and Apostrophe brands.
“HCD has been very, very helpful and supportive. They have been highly proactive coming forward with solutions to the problems encountered…”
Bev King, Director, Z Hotels
Banking Sector
The UK banking sector remains an important contributor to the national economy and stiff competition between financial providers means a great deal of attention is paid to the quality of customer experience, particularly in-branch.
As a result, HCD has worked closely with leading names on major fit-out, upgrade and refurbishment programmes on branch networks across the UK.
Since 2002, HCD Building Control has provided Approved Inspector Services to the Royal Bank of Scotland on its roll-out programme of premises improvement and refurbishment. This relationship was formalised in 2006 with the signing of a Framework Agreement which named HCD as the sole provider of Building Control support services to the RBS Group in England and Wales.
The current agreement covers internal works across the RBS property portfolio, including RBS and Nat West branches, corporate business centres and offices used by Group companies such as Green Flag, Lombard Direct and Coutts. Since 2002 we have handled over 3,000 projects, ranging from small modification schemes, to major refurbishments with values up to £10m.
We have also undertaken a wide-ranging re-branding programme for Santander to bring uniformity to its branches which were formerly known as Abbey National, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester.
Out of Town Sector
In recent years there has been a significant expansion in top-notch out of town shopping centres and retail parks across the UK. This has seen not only the investment in new build schemes, but the redevelopment of the UK’s early examples to provide an experience in line with the expectations of modern consumers, offering shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.
HCD has worked with a range of developers on a number of innovative mixed- use out of town schemes across the country. Clients include Legal & General, Land Securities, Development Securities, Citygrove Securities and Ashfield Land.
“The integrated support from HCD has undoubtedly helped in getting the scheme off the ground and its continued professional input will underpin our future success.”
Richard Dean, Managing Director, David McLean Developments
£75m St Austell Town Centre Redevelopment
To find out more about our wide-ranging experience in the UK retail sector, please contact us or alternatively, request a quote.
