Is Roadside Real Estate well placed to construct a drive through portfolio at speed?
“…People are driving around the Country in electric vehicles but struggle to charge them. Just a lack of chargers. Lack of fast charging points…”
Whether deliberate or an unintended consequence, Roadside Real Estate’s business model could help accelerate the U.K.’s electric vehicle economy.
The company invests in and develops prime roadside locations where customers can shop, have a coffee, park for free and charge their cars and do so quickly. It’s this consumer benefit that could define and help deliver the company’s true drive-through credentials.
The most quoted reason for drivers not to choose electric vehicles is the lack of available charging infrastructure. Current public policy mandates that by 2035 internal combustion engines will not be available for sale, and electric vehicles will become the norm. Consumers though are finding reasons not to engage.
Chairman and largest shareholder Charles Dickson says the 2035 target for complete EV car adoption is “wildly optimistic,” but Roadside is preparing for that deadline and doing so at the same speed they want their charging points to operate at.
The signing of a joint venture with U.S. private equity house Meadow Partners last October is allowing Roadside to invest £250 million within the first 30 months of deal signing. Already transactions in excess of £50 million have been completed.
There are few competitors in the space Roadside is inhabiting and because it is so well capitalised it is getting ahead in the curation of kerbside location cream.
“Fundamentally we’re in a great space,” says Dickson. “We’ve got a big opportunity. We’re investing and developing modern purpose built roadside real estate for the future, and in ten years time, the sort of sites that we own and developed will be commonplace around the U.K..”
Dickson and his team have big plans for the amenities that their locations will provide. Walk in medical appointments are being considered as part of the offering.
And as Charles explains to Sarah Lowther in this video “We’re growing a new real estate business focusing in on a very attractive asset class where there’s rental growth. It’s very, very busy at the moment. We’re seeing a lot of opportunities. There’s not much competition for sites, there’s not a lot of depth to market, so I think we’re well placed to construct a very, very good portfolio.”
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The author was remunerated but does not hold shares in the company
