The British retail investment market joins the rest of the United Kingdom’s business community in facing a host of unknowns in 2017.  Chief among them is the timing and impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union following the outcome of the referendum in June 2016. Yardi caught up with one its partners, NewRiver REIT, a specialist retail and leisure investor, asset manager and developer whose convenience-led positioning means it is uniquely placed to navigate these uncertain times. NewRiver’s £1.3 billion portfolio includes 33 community shopping centres, 22 retail parks, 16 high street assets and 350 pubs. The portfolio provides consumers up and down the UK with its daily essentials – those items essential to daily life, the things consumers require, opposed to what they simply desire. Fundamental to the success of the business over the past seven and half years has been how NewRiver has engaged with and satisfied all the stakeholders within its chain, from store customers, retailers, peers, advisors and local authorities all the way to its institutional investors and shareholders. “At the heart of the retail sector is the customer and our business begins with building and retaining consumer loyalty,” says Emma Mackenzie, a Director at NewRiver who manages assets in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north-east of England. “At the local level, we make sure our shopping centres satisfy the needs of the towns they serve. Its about providing a variety of products and services at a price the customer can afford. Furthermore, we work hard to ensure the environment is fit for purpose – and that includes such basic factors as the centre being clean and accessible as well as bright and attractive and providing somewhere to sit down or get a cup of tea.” Brexit has triggered...