PwC Legal recently hosted a seminar for members of Mindful Fashion NZ focussed on the topic of leasing for commercial and retail businesses. The seminar highlighted some key considerations to be aware of in leasing a retail premises, as well as some strategies to help you get the most out of your leasing arrangements.

A range of topics were discussed, including:

• Entry into a lease: What you should be looking out for when entering into a lease to ensure you get things right from the start.

• Lease security and incentives: Important considerations in relation to lease security and incentives such as personal vs bank guarantees, types of incentives offered and the potential tax implications of various lease incentive options.

• Negotiation strategies: Negotiating lease terms that are aligned and favour your business’ long term strategy and how to leverage your business’ value and brand power as a tenant in negotiations.

• Management of key dates: The importance of keeping track of key lease dates, such as lease variations, renewals and rent reviews and how to use the renewal process as a basis for negotiation of other lease terms.

• Assignments and subletting: How to navigate your rights and responsibilities under the assignment, subletting and change of control provisions commonly found in a lease.

• Tenants’ rights when things go wrong: Tenants’ rights during a business interruption, the right of quiet enjoyment and what these mean for your business when things go wrong.

Thank you to all of you that came along to the seminar. It was a great opportunity to discuss and share some valuable insights between the PwC Legal team and the MFNZ members in attendance. For those of you that did not make it to the seminar, but are looking for advice or assistance in relation to any commercial or retail leasing questions, you can reach out to Nicky Harrison ([email protected]) or Jonathan Simons ([email protected]) at PwC Legal.