The town centre is dead.
Long live the town centre.

We’ve seen and embraced many changes in our 30-year history. The world continues to change at a break-neck pace. Much has conspired against town centres, once the heartbeat of our communities — the epicentre of our retail universe. But we are not nostalgic. There’s a brave new world out there, and it’s called the town centre.

This change is not cyclical.

It’s a fundamental shift driven by how and why people engage with town centres. GCW is passionate about understanding this change and how we can add value to our clients' assets, be they occupier, owner or stakeholder. Retail will always sit at the core of what we do, yet the regeneration of our town centres requires a far more vibrant mix of uses than ever before.

We’ve invested time in understanding that wider market. We put people at the forefront of our thinking, examining their needs and understanding their reasons to visit a location. Identifying how to satisfy this need is central to the advice we provide to all our clients.

Advice or Brokerage.

Leasing and acquiring space are a crucial part of our role, but our clients also respect us for our in-depth knowledge. Early engagement enables us to take a holistic overview and identify a strategy that’s appropriate to the specific needs of the project and client. We’re good listeners, but we're not afraid to challenge conventions. We bring this broader expertise to every project.

Our Values.

Opinions welcome.

Nobody knows everything. We encourage collaboration and free-thinking from all areas of our business.

Work without boundaries.

We don’t operate in silos. Our team work on a wide variety of projects and are encouraged to share their experiences with the whole business.

See the people.

The end-users of property are always at the forefront of our thinking. Understanding how and why they engage is central to the advice we provide.

Think holistically.

It’s rarely about a single solution to one problem. Taking a broader look at the bigger picture results in better outcomes for our clients.

Boots on the ground.

Without actually seeing places and clients, advice is worthless. We form real market knowledge from seeing it first-hand and sharing those experiences with the team.

What our clients say.

"Over the years GCW have helped KFC and their franchise partners build their varied and flexible restaurant portfolio.  This has covered acquisitions across out of town, edge of town, roadside and town centre locations, from the smaller in town formats to traditional drive thru restaurants.  Their market knowledge and boots on the ground approach has proved invaluable to us, given our desire to grow the brand."

Dan Gardner, Acquisitions and Estates Director
KFC UKI

"GCW have been my principal retail adviser for over 25 years. I have always found them to be knowledgeable and, crucially, commercially astute. The advice I have sought has more recently morphed from finding tenants to full re-positioning strategies and they have given me an excellent service every time."

John Heller, CEO
London & Associated Properties Plc

"UK Estates has been working with GCW for several years. They have been involved in the very successful sale of a number of our properties, as well as offering a broad range of professional services. In providing these, they have demonstrated an intimate and comprehensive knowledge of the locations in particular and the market in general, and a commitment to achieving the best results for us as a client."

David Gradel, Chairman
UK Estates Limited

"We have worked with GCW for many years and regard them as one of our trusted advisors. They have been instrumental in buying and selling key assets on our behalf and provide an invaluable leasing service in respect to several of our shopping centre projects."

Caitriona Hunter, Director
CBRE Global Investors

"These are challenging times for the retail property market.  Under those circumstances you need a consultant that understands the structural changes taking place. The GCW team have become trusted advisers to us who can tap into a broad range of skill sets and experiences beyond retail to assist in identifying opportunities to help drive performance of retail assets."

Rupert Wood, Property Director, Asset Management
St Modwen Plc

"GCW has been an excellent advisor to UBS providing us with detailed, balanced and importantly very honest advice."

Oliver Abram, Director
UBS Asset Management (UK) Ltd

"Many town centres are experiencing structural change, where very often traditional shopping is no longer the single dominant activity. This requires stakeholders and investors to think more creatively about their retail assets and their future roles.  GCW have become trusted advisers to Benson Elliot on projects such as Vicarage Field, Barking and Quedam Centre, Yeovil, where we will be delivering mixed use urban regeneration projects over the next few years."

Peter Cornforth, Director
Benson Elliot Capital Management LLP

"GCW have worked with CBRE Global Investors for over 15 years and have always provided honest, straightforward advice whether acting on a sale, advising on a purchase, undertaking a letting or negotiating a lease re-gear. They will identify and highlight potential issues in a transaction and endeavour to find solutions to enable it to proceed, where appropriate."

Alex Mills, Senior Director
CBRE Global Investors

“Elmbridge have used the services of GCW on a number of occasions over the years.  Their knowledge is second to none and they always give clear honest advice.  We trust them in all they do for us.”

Stuart La Frenais, Property Portfolio Manager
Elmbridge Borough Council

"GCW work closely with us on one of our key town centre assets.  We value the breadth of experience they bring to the project and the forthright and candid nature of the advice they provide."

Jonathan Gregory, Principal Investment Surveyor
Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council