In early 2023, Ashdown Phillips were appointed by Clearbell as the managing agents for their Project Carter portfolio. The portfolio was initially comprised of six industrial estates which has doubled in size over the last two years. The portfolio now comprises just under 800,000 square feet of lettable space, a combined service charge of £210,000 pa, and a rent roll of circa £5,4m pa.

Following each new acquisition, one of our first priorities is for the Surveyor and Facilities Manager to visit the estate and meet with each occupier. Whilst it is often immediately clear where attention is needed when it comes to maintenance, we have found the initial in person introduction helpful to understand from occupiers what they feel is needed.

Some of the schemes were in desperate need of attention with estate roads in poor condition, entrance gates constantly breaking down and needing repair, and parking issues. Many of these issues had already been identified by us, however providing occupiers with the reassurance their concerns would be addressed was a positive start to our relationship with them. In many cases, the previous managing agent had not visited the estate in several years and so our hands on approach was well received. The prompt attendance to issues onsite has had the positive side effect of occupiers willingly paying their service charge on time as they can see their contribution is making a difference to the quality of the estate.

Clearbell place a strong emphasis on their Sustainability Policy and we therefore prioritise assisting them in meeting their sustainability targets. On a quarterly basis we request utility and waste data from occupiers across the portfolio and upload this information to Clearbell’s sustainability data management platform where it is easily accessible by their Sustainability team.

A number of sustainability opportunities have been identified across the portfolio – the majority of estates have bug hotels and bird boxes in place, and new trees and bushes have been planted wherever the opportunity exists. Wildflower gardens are also planned for some of the more recent additions to the portfolio. The result is that many of the estates within the portfolio bear little resemblance to the traditional notion of what an industrial estate looks like!