Forbes furnishes stokers with commercial property advice in £10m investment

Forbes Solicitors has advised fine furnishings retailer Stokers Limited on a £10m deal to open one of the largest independent furniture stores in the South East of England. 

The law firm, which has 11 offices across the North, supported Stokers in the relocation of its Lucas Furniture store in Aylesbury to a new site four-times the size of its existing premises. 

Prominently located on the entrance to Aylesbury on the A41 Bicester Road, the new store is just under 80,000 square feet and will display furniture across two light and airy floors. 

The store features solar roof panels that have enough capacity to completely power the premises, and will be home to a customer café, which will be run by local independent operator on a 20-year lease. The new site will also have a 90-space car park with plans for adding charging stations for electric vehicles. 

The investment, which includes the purchase of land, will see the construction of a 30,000 square foot warehouse on-site. This will enable Lucas Furniture to provide consumers with larger choice and shorter lead times on some of the most prestigious names in furniture and beds from across the UK and internationally.  

Tim Hollingsworth, a consultant in Forbes Solicitors’ commercial property team, acted on the deal. He commented: “This has been a particularly exciting and interesting deal, with many different components. From negotiating the 20-year café lease and prioritising this for a local trader, to incorporating sustainable energy, it’s a deal that really epitomises the trends of modern, forward-thinking commercial property investments.  

“It’s been great to work with the Stokers team and to help deliver this on time, despite the wider challenges of the pandemic.”

Jonathan Stoker, joint managing director of Stokers, added: “Lucas Furniture is an important business within our portfolio and this investment marks another step forward for a well-established brand. The existing store has traded in Aylesbury for over 120 years and now was the right time to move to a larger, more accessible store.

“The new store means we can continue to provide our customers with the high standards of service and product choice they expect. With this in mind, it was key that we worked with expert partners that could help realise the full potential of the relocation. The commercial property team at Forbes understood exactly what we wanted to achieve and were able to help structure a deal that delivers on our vision of creating welcoming and appealing independent furniture stores.”

The new Lucas Furniture store opened on 15 August 2020. This will see the closure and sale of the old store on Rabans Lane, Aylesbury, which Forbes Solicitors is advising on.