Business Gift UK specialise in advertising and promotional gifts. Established in 1985, their experienced, family-run business helps clients make a great first impression and leave a lasting reminder with their customers. However, with a lack of events and exhibitions since the outbreak of COVID-19, the business had been hit hard and has been forced to make some difficult decisions.

The company decided to downsize their unit and moved to managed offices to minimise overheads during these uncertain times. With their help of their letting agents Neil Weaver, they hired CG Professionals to take care of the legal side.

Steve Ward, Managing Director of Business Gift UK said: “We had been in the unit for four years and then at the start of the year COVID hit us hard. A lot of what we do is for events and exhibitions but nothing like this is happening, so we decided to downsize to a smaller managed office.”

Their previous unit in Bamber Bridge has been let to Glitterama, an artificial nail specialist whose online business has boomed during lockdown, on a five-year lease.

Steve added: “CG Professionals were recommended to us by letting agents Taylor Weaver and they turned our heads of agreement into detailed commercial lease contracts.

“My wife Ann and I were due to retire in a couple of years and let our son Ben take over the business. Those plans have now been brought forward to reduce the payroll commitment.

“We had two areas to the unit – offices and storage. We have handed over what was in storage to a fulfilment company and moved to managed offices in Leyland. It’s about a fifth of the size of the unit we had.”

Despite such worrying times, Steve said the lease was dealt with in a quick and professional manner.

“CG were very friendly and approachable and kept us informed throughout the process. They responded within minutes if we had a query. The agreement was quite complex, and they didn’t speak to us in legalise.

“We hired a professional to take care of the deal – and they did just that. It took less than six weeks from instruction to completion.

“In the short term, we plan to tread water and keep our overheads to a minimum during the uncertainty. The managed offices we have come to allow us to manage our bills better because everything is included.

“We would be very happy to pass on their details to other businesses who may require their services. In fact, we already have!”