Thomas Cook renegotiates shop leases to cut costs

Thomas Cook is reviewing leases on a number of its shops as part of the cost cutting programme.

The operator is using an external firm called Rent Reform to approach some shops and negotiate terms and rents on their behalf.

Rent Reform specialises in lease renewals, rent reductions, lease re-gearing, rent reviews, investments and insolvency advice and has negotiated for Superdrug stores and Subway.

The move is to bring leases agreed five or six years ago into line with current rental levels.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said the rent reviews had been taking place for about three months and were on-going but would not specify the number of shops being reviewed.

The operator said the steps were being taken in line with the UK turnaround and cost cutting.

Thomas Cook UK & Ireland said, "As we look to transform the UK business, we want to ensure that our retail business is operating as efficiently as possible by working with our landlords to review current rental levels. We"re committed to the high street and with a realistic review of market rental rates, we will ensure that we remain the UK"s largest high street travel agent."

A spokesman for Rent Reform said the time it takes could vary depending on how many outlets were involved and how responsive tenants and landlords are.

Monday, July 2, 2012