Forecast for 2021: looking ahead with hope (part 17)

Dan Drogman

Chief executive/founder, Smart Spaces

I expect to see a strong case being made for a return to the office once the lockdown ends. The reasons are well-versed: the office is where we collaborate and innovate, make connections, network and support the economy around us.

The role of smart building technology is to help facilitate a safe and secure return, as it provides practical solutions and, longer term, helps deliver healthier buildings.

To support our clients’ preparation, in addition to our community and wellbeing app, we’ve been implementing smart occupancy and air-quality sensors, contactless building entry, fever detection lanes with AI, location beacons and digital twins across 20m sq ft of office space.

Smart building tech enables owners and occupiers to flex traditional offices by understanding how people are using space in real-time. It is vital to understand that as we go into this new hybrid way of working.

As occupier demand for smart technology increases, there will be a ‘flight to quality’ and buildings distinguished by being smart will appeal the most.

Nicky Lovell

Head of outlets and brand development, Affinity

Over the past year, asset managers, along with others, have faced challenges they could have never predicted.

In our four Affinity Outlets across the country, we’ve needed to respond quickly. Yes, it has been a challenging market, but we have also welcomed early renewal conversations and seen brands returning to our locations, while others have opted to upsize.

In addition, we have secured new deals. The outlet retailing model, which had already been weathering the storm of online retail, has proven its resilience during the pandemic.

Outlets are often in well-located areas which complement town centres and benefit from bags of free parking in front of the outlet. They offer customers choice and value for money but also – importantly in the pandemic – a sense of safety and confidence in a spacious environment.

But it is the flexibility of the leasing model, which we are now seeing replicated in traditional retail destinations, that plays the really critical role in the outlets’ strength. In fact, we’ve seen as many independent brands considering an outlet for their first bricks-and-mortar presence as we have national multiple retailers looking for stock clearance.

Operators still look to outlets as an incredibly strong proposition to trial their products, to clear old stock, to access a high level of footfall and to test multi-channel retailing in strong locations.

Asset management in outlet retailing is not for the faint-hearted – a high degree of agility and adaptability is needed, and the churn of operators is real – but that is why the model is so compelling at this time.