18 fleurets.com A taste of success Restaurants Richard Thomas Divisional Director It is easy to look at the current restaurant climate and see closures as the ‘death of the high street’. At Fleurets we challenge that vision and see every closure as an opportunity. Desire to own a restaurant in the capital is relentless, and these developments in the sector are giving many emerging operators their chance to shine. For example in 2018 vegan pizza concept, Purezza, opened their first London site, in Camden, expanding to the capital from their Brighton home. Similarly, earlier this year I was involved in a flagship acquisition of Hai D Lio, Piccadilly Circus (formerly a museum) extending to 2,000 sq ft at ground floor and 8,000 sq ft in the basement, at a commencing rent of £1.25 million, equating to a weighted ground floor rate of £200psf, marking the operator’s first site in Europe. They will now look to expand into other European cities as well as UK towns, with present discussions for a second site in East London. Whilst the casual dining sector is somewhat in turmoil, new entrants are able to take advantage of the units being vacated. In contrast to the casual dining sector, the high-end