Diageo

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Diageo wanted the efficient management of their multi-million pound surplus property portfolio and its early disposal facilitated

GCL’s director-led team manage Diageo’s varied surplus property portfolio to ensure promp rent collection,enforcement of lease compliance and also to facilitate the successful early disposal of leases.

Management of Diageo’s Surplus Property Portfolio

Diageo has a surplus nationwide property portfolio compromising of a widely varied range of buildings, including shops, offices and warehousing. Their brief to Grice Collins Long (GCL) was to manage the properties and ensure prompt and full collection of the rent and other charges, whilst also ensuring tenant compliance with all lease terms.  In addition, GCL were given a full management role for four of their multi-let office buildings, which included setting up and administrating all service charges.
GCL are not only successfully achieving this brief, but have also expanded this role by proactively looking at ways of either significantly enhancing the income or achieving the early disposal of leases on advantageous terms.

This role involves close liaison with the client and tenants in order to achieve these objectives and it is essential that the instruction is serviced directly by a senior director - without delegation. This director-led management ensures that Diageo benefits from the full experience of GCL in dealing with their complex and varied properties and tenants, and GCL are therefore not only there to merely provide the client with a director-level interface.

For example, within the portfolio, there are small corner shops at one end of the scale and major multi-let buildings at the other, all requiring a flexibility of skills, attention and service rarely available elsewhere.

Additionally, GCL provide a full accounting role on top of their general management service, this delivers all the required information on time and in agreed formats for Diageo’s central accounting team.  Finally, as a supplementary service, GCL also upkeep and update a UK property database for Diageo and provides a diary system for them: all essential tools for the efficient and effective management of the portfolio.

This instruction has been held by GCL since our inception. We continue to work by all means available to facilitate the successful disposal of the portfolio: which is now dwindling as a direct consequence.