Screwfix investment property sold, thanks to John Truslove

L-R: Ben Truslove, Sharon Stephens, Amber Sewter-White (behind the board), Sherry Westley and Jack Wigham

The site of Alcester’s new Screwfix store has been sold off from an asking price of £450,000.

Property agency John Truslove secured the deal on behalf of the building’s previous owner, Will Pethick, boss of growing online business Keen Gardener.

The site at 19 Arden Business Centre has been sold as a prime investment on the back of John Truslove’s success in securing Screwfix as a new tenant on a ten-year lease at £28,000 per annum.

The trade retailer opened the new branch in October, creating ten new jobs.

The subsequent sale of the building, to a private investor, caps a major success for both the John Truslove agency and their client, Keen Gardener.

The Arden Business Centre unit attracted good demand from a number of potential buyers.

Mr Pethick said the sale would help boost investment in continuing growth of Keen Gardener, an online garden retail business which has seen recent sales soaring by 23 per cent.

The firm’s current base in Redditch is three times the size of its previous home, providing a platform for further expansion.

Mr Pethick said: “The service we have had from Ben Truslove has been absolutely fantastic.

“John Truslove has gone above and beyond for us in helping secure a new tenant and then the sale of the site. It’s been an excellent experience for us as a customer.”

Ben Truslove, a director at the John Truslove agency, said: “It has been a drawn-out process with a number of ups and downs, but we are delighted to have secured a series of successful deals to the benefit of our client.

“These premises provided an excellent opportunity for Screwfix, a major national chain, to establish itself in the locality. And that in turn showed its value as an investment opportunity for the new owner.

“We have worked with Will Pethick and Keen Gardener over many years and are very pleased to have been able to secure them another cracking result.”

The 4,239 sq ft unit is one of 28 at Arden Business Centre, built in the late 1980s.

The new owner was represented by property agent Simon Allen, and received legal advice from Thomson & Bancks Solicitors. Keen Gardener was advised by Jon Cherry at Walker Morris LLP.