On Wednesday 27 June 2018, RGS Professional group members working across the Property Sector came together for this greatly anticipated RGS Professionals Property event at the lush Cavendish Hotel, hosted by Rapleys.

Special thanks go to Robert Clarke, Rapleys senior partner and head of the town planning department, our generous host for the evening. Robert has extensive knowledge and experience of a wide range of property sectors. Today, Rapleys has six offices in key hubs across the UK employing around 160 professional staff and providing a comprehensive range of services.

We were extremely fortunate to have with us Alfred Bartlett and Russell Smith, partners at Rapleys, to share their extensive expertise in the Commercial Property Market.  Together they gave us a fascinating double act giving us not only the ‘doomsday’ perception of Retail in its current state, but also highlighting the ways in which savvy retailers, landlords and developers (plus a mention of government policy) could all help sustain the retail market. They adeptly described how over the last few decades High Street competition has previously come from out of town shopping malls. More recently the threat has shifted and innovative online retailers are capatilising on the digital revolution offering low prices, wide choice and customer convenience. However, with all this in mind there are still High St retailers who are thriving, embracing innovation and ‘adapting to overcome’.  There were plenty of examples of retailers – even fresh off the press announcements from John Lewis who have fallen foul of consumer spending trends; it was an extremely enlightening talk packed full of current and future trends.

There was ample opportunity for questions, finishing up with Jonny Hylton thanking all attendees and in particular Robert and his terrific team for hosting this popular RGS Professionals event. Attendees then took the opportunity to retire to the bar to socialise, re-connect and network.

If you would like to see a copy of the presentation, please email foundation@www.rgs.foundation
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