Napier Brown Holdings
Client Snapshot
Client: Napier Brown Holdings Ltd (Private Landlord)
Sector: Private Property Investment
Asset: 620 Chester Road, Old Trafford, Manchester M16
Asset Type: Automotive Service Centre: 23,934 sq ft (2,224 sq m) across two floors
Tenant: Volkswagen Group United Kingdom Ltd (sublet to Lancaster Plc)
Passing Rent: £297,750 per annum
Service Delivered: Investment Sale, Commercial Property Disposal
About the Asset
620 Chester Road is a prime, purpose-built automotive service centre located approximately two miles south of Manchester city centre, fronting the A56 Chester Road, one of the main arterial routes connecting the city with the prosperous suburbs of Greater Manchester and Cheshire. The property comprises a state-of-the-art Audi service and repair centre extending to 23,934 sq ft across two floors, operated by Jardines as part of an integrated service and showroom operation with the adjacent Audi dealership directly opposite.
The building was converted from a former Harley Davidson showroom in 2006 to a high specification automotive workshop, providing 22 service bays, 2 MOT bays, an exhaust extraction system, parts and valet facilities, customer reception, and supporting offices on both ground and first floors. The property is of modern steel portal frame construction and sits on a 1.1 acre site with extensive customer and operational parking to the side and rear.
The investment was let to Volkswagen Group United Kingdom Limited until 6 November 2031 with no breaks, with a subtenancy to Lancaster Plc for the same term. Volkswagen Group UK carries a Dun and Bradstreet 5A1 rating, with a tangible net worth of £738 million and annual turnover in excess of £9.3 billion, representing an exceptionally strong covenant. The passing rent was £297,750 per annum, with the site also carrying alternative use value subject to planning.
The Challenge
Napier Brown Holdings Ltd held the property as a long-term investment asset and instructed The UpCo to manage the disposal and achieve best value for the investment. The core challenge was straightforward in principle but demanding in execution: maximise the sale price in a competitive investment market, against a strong income stream and blue-chip tenant covenant, while managing the complexity of a large-scale commercial transaction with institutional-grade buyers.
The sale presented several specific requirements:
The marketing needed to reach the broadest possible audience of qualified commercial property investors, both regional and national, to generate genuine competitive tension and maximise interest.
With a passing rent of £297,750 per annum and seven years of unexpired term remaining on a lease to a FTSE-listed covenant, the asset had strong investment fundamentals that needed to be communicated clearly and compellingly to the right buyer profile.
The volume of interest generated would need to be carefully vetted and qualified: not all expressions of interest reflect genuine, funded buyer intent, and presenting unqualified interest to the vendor would have wasted time and risked the integrity of the process.
The transaction structure needed careful consideration, including VAT treatment and the intended Transfer of a Going Concern (TOGC) structure, to protect the vendor's position and ensure a clean, efficient disposal.
In short, the instruction required a full investment agency service, from professional marketing and market positioning through to process management, buyer qualification, and transactional close.
Our Approach
The UpCo developed and executed a comprehensive marketing and disposal strategy designed to position the asset at its best, generate maximum qualified interest, and close the transaction at the strongest achievable price.
The campaign was built on four pillars:
Data room: a full, professionally structured data room was prepared containing all material information required by institutional and professional investors to undertake due diligence, including title documents, lease information, tenancy schedules, planning history, EPC, and property information.
Dedicated microsite: a bespoke property microsite was created at 620chesterroad.co.uk, presenting the investment opportunity in a polished, investor-facing format with full details of the location, situation, accommodation, comparables, and a direct data room access point. This gave the asset a professional, standalone identity in the market.
Premium listings and campaigns: the property was marketed through premium listings on Rightmove Commercial alongside targeted digital campaigns, reaching a wide audience of active commercial property investors and their advisors.
Buyer qualification and viewings management: over 50 expressions of interest were received and systematically vetted and qualified by The UpCo ahead of arranging viewings, ensuring that only credible, funded buyers with genuine interest progressed to inspection.
Following the marketing campaign and viewings programme, The UpCo determined that an informal best bids process was the most appropriate method for closing the transaction, creating structured competitive tension among the strongest qualified buyers and maximising the final sale price.
The Outcome
The informal best bids process delivered a strong outcome for Napier Brown Holdings Ltd. The sale was completed at £4.1 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.25% on the passing rent of £297,750 per annum.
Investment metric
Sale Price Achieved: £4,100,000
Passing Rent: £297,750 per annum
Net Initial Yield: 7.25%
Unexpired Lease Term at Sale: 7 years (to November 2031, no breaks)
Tenant Covenant: Volkswagen Group UK Ltd (D&B 5A1)
Expressions of Interest Generated: 50+
Transaction Structure: Transfer of a Going Concern (TOGC)
Impact at a Glance
£4.1m
Sale price achieved
50+
Expressions of interest generated
7.25%
Net initial yield on sale
Why It Mattered
Achieving best value on a commercial investment disposal of this type is not simply a matter of putting a property on the market and waiting for offers. The quality of the marketing, the professional presentation of the investment case, and the discipline of the sales process all have a direct bearing on the final price achieved and the calibre of buyer secured.
The decision to build a dedicated microsite and full data room, rather than relying on standard agency listings alone, reflected The UpCo's understanding that institutional and professional investors expect a certain standard of information and presentation before committing to a process. The volume of interest generated, over 50 expressions of interest on a single asset, validated the approach and created the competitive conditions needed to run a credible best bids process.
By carefully qualifying that interest before arranging viewings, The UpCo protected the client's time and the integrity of the process, ensuring that the eventual best bids round was contested by genuine, funded buyers. The result, a £4.1 million sale on a strong covenant with seven years of unexpired income, represented a well-executed disposal of a prime Manchester investment asset.