14 fleurets.com Investments Make hay whilst the sun shines Rosie Hallam Senior Associate Granted, the first half of 2018 has hardly been pleasant for high street retailers and casual dining operators, but, as with the weather, and so many other things in life, it is likely to be just a phase! For several years there has been strong private equity investment into the casual dining sector, with new brands being rolled out across the UK, seeking to satisfy our apparent insatiable hunger for more. It was perhaps inevitable, however, that there would be some casualties. However, the challenges of the casual dining market have not diluted investor appetite as underlying fundamentals within the leisure property market remain strong, with keen yields being achieved across the country for the best assets and opportunities, as the table illustrates. Leases with long unexpired lease terms, robust covenant tenants and annual index linked rental increases remain the key criteria, characteristics that are commonly seen in the public house sector, and investors are keener than ever to tap into this sector of the market place.